[3][4] During the planning phase of the Interstate Highway System, the route that became I-81 was placed north and east of the airport.

Some local officials were reluctant to back the proposal at that time, since the project was still in the planning phase.

Others felt that Sullivan County should not be responsible for the entire cost of local funding, since the airport is regional.

This action was blamed on fuel shortages that were presumably part of the global energy crisis that year.

[14] Construction reportedly resumed a few months later, and by February 1974, the route was expected to be complete by the fall of that year.

[18] On July 1, 1983, the state assumed control of the route as part of a statewide takeover of approximately 3,300 miles (5,300 km) of city and county maintained roads, which also included a renumbering of a number of existing state routes.