It was established as part of the Appalachian Regional Development Act of 1965, and has been repeatedly supplemented by various federal and state legislative and regulatory actions.

Because the cost of building highways through Appalachia's mountainous terrain was high, the region's local residents had never been served by adequate roads.

The nation's Interstate Highway System, though extensive through the region, was designed to serve cross-country traffic rather than local residents.

[2] The PARC report and the Appalachian governors placed top priority on a modern highway system as the key to economic development.

Historically, highway investment has served as the basis for many US regional development policies and in 2008 the ADHS was deemed one of the more comprehensive programs to use the approach.

[6] To evaluate the effectiveness of such investments, land change modeling was used to compare 1976 "pre-" and 2002 "post-" highway conditions.

Using data acquired from the Landsat system of earth observational satellites, the comparison revealed slight, yet significant, levels of urban expansion within a 6 mi (10 km) band surrounding the new highway.

Beyond this band land use was more stable, indicating even minor distance increases from the highway reduced the likelihood of further development.

[8] Case study excerpts from five corridors were: A 2016–2019 study reported that the cumulative ADHS construction efforts had led to economic net gains of $54 billion (approximately 0.4 percent of national income) and had boosted incomes in the Appalachian region by reducing the costs of trade.

[9] The 2021 ADHS Cost-to-Complete Estimate Report reiterated previous compilations that construction investments made between 1965–2015 contributed to the annual generation of over $19.6 B additional Appalachian business sales, representing $9+ B added GRP.

From Sylva to its end at I-40 near Clyde, Corridor A uses the Great Smoky Mountains Expressway, which carries US 23 most of the way and US 74 for its entire length.

The short Ohio State Route 253 (OH 253) connects the bridge to US 52, a freeway that takes Corridor B north to Wheelersburg.

In Kentucky, it follows US 23 and US 23 Truck; after crossing the two-lane Carl Perkins Bridge into Ohio, it uses current and planned SR 852—a western bypass of Portsmouth—and US 23.

Decades after its completion Corridor D has provided mixed results- beneficial infrastructure improvements, but ARC's goal for regional prosperity still unmet.

Economic growth is evident in the corridor's western counties; several new hospitals, large car dealerships and several fast food restaurants were added along the highway.

[18] The Brown County Campus of Southern State Community College opened near Mount Orab, in a region where "there were no (previous) options for students, they had to drive an hour".

[18] In 2006 a Southern Ohio Medical Center outreach branch opened in Adams County near the SR-32 & SR-41 intersection at Peebles.

A road cut constructed for it through Sideling Hill exposed geological features of the mountain and has become a tourist attraction.

In December 1999, a settlement agreement was reached, providing the framework for resumption of final design, right-of-way acquisition and construction activities on the Corridor H highway project.

Decades of public debate and legal battles aired the essential question of whether previously isolated areas should be preserved or opened to development.

There it turns northwest on State Route 111 (SR 111), eventually curving to the north via Dunlap, Sparta, and Cookeville to Livingston.

Broken in three projects, the plan outlines a new four-lane expressway that will bypass north of the Nantahala Gorge and connect Robbinsville.

[38] In 1986, US 74 was extended west from Asheville, overlapping all of Corridor K.[39] Its last major improvement was in 2005, with the widening of NC 28 at Stecoah, and the first completed section of the Nantahala Gorge bypass.

The corridor also connects the cities of Ducktown and Bryson City, and features the Ocoee National Forest Scenic Byway, in Tennessee, and the Nantahala Byway, in North Carolina; treating travelers with grand vistas and various recreational activities.Corridor L is a highway in the U.S. state of West Virginia.

Originally, this corridor was built as a four-lane divided highway for only the portion south of US 60; however, the large amount of traffic (as part of the direct route from the cities of Toronto, Buffalo, and Pittsburgh to Florida and a considerable portion of the Atlantic southeast) forced the state to rethink this plan and upgrade the northern half to four lanes as well.

[44] The majority of the corridor's length from its southern terminus to Selinsgrove is a four-lane divided highway carrying the US 11 and US 15 designations.

The next 10.84 miles (17.45 km) is an unbuilt freeway named the Central Susquehanna Valley Thruway (CSVT), which will partially be designated US 15 and PA 147.

Several sections of NY 17 are not up to freeway or Interstate Highway standards, and need to be upgraded before I-86 can be designated along its full length.

As of late 2014, the following portions of Corridor V have been recently completed or are underway: A widening project is also underway on Alabama State Route 24 (SR 24) between Red Bay and Russellville, as this section of Corridor V was previously reconstructed as an improved two-lane route within divided a four-lane right-of-way.

Funding issues and pushback from environmental activists have stalled the project for decades with only a short, unused segment being constructed in the mid-2010s.