The highway designation was created in 1930 out of the southern end of US 127. Three sets of reroutings through Adrian have resulted in the creation of two different business loops through the city. A change proposed in the 1960s and implemented in the 1970s shifted the southern end of US 223 to replace M-151 and then run along the US 23 freeway between Whiteford Township, Michigan, and Sylvania, Ohio. Since the 1980s, US 223 no longer reaches Toledo, instead feeding into the freeway system for the city. Changes proposed and enacted into law in the 1990s would upgrade the highway as an Interstate Highway. Congress has designated this corridor as part of Interstate 73 (I-73), although neither state intends at this time to complete the freeway.