Opened to traffic in 1985, Skudai Highway was built as an upgrade to the Federal Route 1, as part of the North–South Expressway project.

The stretch from Bandar Baru Uda to Skudai was widened to six lanes in 2001 to enable the highway to handle higher traffic capacity.

In March 2004, the federal government decided to abolish the Senai toll plaza, and maintenance responsibility of the highway was transferred to the Malaysian Public Works Department.

Until 2008, the highway was linked to the Johor–Singapore Causeway on its southern end via the former Johor Bahru CIQ Complex.

With the opening of the new CIQ complex, Sultan Iskandar Building, access to the Causeway and Singapore is provided by the Eastern Dispersal Link.