The present-day interchange with Interstate 10 was for 48th Street, completed in 1967 as part of the original I-10 freeway construction through the southeast sections of the valley such as the Tempe and Chandler suburbs.

(This has been identified as a reason of the traffic backups still seen today, as the rest of the freeway is now built to three lanes on either side, thus creating a bottleneck at the University Drive overpass.)

[4] Eventually the route from Sky Harbor Boulevard to Loop 202 was moved onto an entirely new path along the Old Cross Cut Canal right-of-way, roughly paralleling 46th Street beginning at Washington Street Draft plans also included extending the route 2 miles further north along the relatively narrow 48th Street/canal corridor, curving over McDowell Road and ending abruptly at Indian School Road.

The route, which is almost entirely residential, met with significant neighborhood opposition and was eventually dropped, although the north-bound exit and south-bound entrance at McDowell Road was retained.

In 2011, the route was updated so drivers departing the east end of Sky Harbor Airport could travel directly onto southbound SR 143 via one of the new ramps.