WIS 57 serves as a major highway in eastern Wisconsin, and it was originally designed to connect the major cities of Milwaukee and Green Bay as well as several other large cities along its corridor. The state of Wisconsin proposed that the WIS 57 route become an Interstate Highway corridor when the Interstate Highway System was planned in the 1950s; the state's plan was rejected in favor of the current routing of Interstate 43. WIS 57 is also a major route to the popular tourist destination of Door County; it is one of only two state highways to serve the county.