In 1985, US 23 was upgraded to interstate standards on the initiative of Eddie Williams, chief executive officer of economic development for Johnson City, Jonesborough and Washington County, Tenn. "The original idea for that project happened in 1985, when two young men named as Don Kiel and Alan Bridwell walked into my office with a plan to upgrade Highway 23 to interstate standards," Williams said. "And all it cost us was to change the signs." Later that year, a section of US 23 near Johnson City was designated as I-181, the first section of US 23 to be designated as an interstate in either Tennessee or North Carolina. Williams claims that this project was a catalyst for the five-state I-26 extension project.