The combination of SR 85 between I-10 and I-8 as well as I-8 between SR 85 and I-10 in Casa Grande has been promoted as a bypass of the Phoenix area for long-distance travelers on I-10. In 2014, I-8 had an AADT of 5,200 vehicles between Butterfield Trail and Freeman Road, and 44,400 vehicles between SR 280 and Araby Road east of Yuma, the latter of which was the highest AADT for the highway in Arizona. In the early 2010s, I-8 from Casa Grande to Gila Bend was sometimes used for smuggling both drugs and humans.