Plans call for the freeway to reach the French border at Somport where a 8.6-km two-lane cross-border tunnel has been in operation since 2003.

Once fully complete, it will serve as an important connection between Valencia, Aragon, the Basque region, and France, through the Somport tunnel.

The motorway has been completed between Teruel, Zaragoza and Huesca, meaning that all three provincial capitals in Aragon are connected.

As of late 2019 the A-23 runs continuously as far as Lanave near Sabiñánigo, but work on some sections north of this point still remains unfinished, as plans to link to Jaca and eventually the French border are yet to be completed.

The route also links from Zaragoza to the Cantabrian by the A-68, to northern Navarre, Pamplona and the Basque Country by the A-21 (also unfinished) and to Lleida by the A-22 which is close to completion.

The stretch between Zaragoza and Huesca presents problems for light trucks when strong wind gusts occur in Cierzo.