Old U.S. 27 was designated as a Heritage Route in 2010, the first step in including the old road in the National Scenic Byways program.
The old road was first designated as U.S. 27 in 1926. At its longest, U.S. 27 stretched from St. Ignace to Miami. The expressway from Lansing to Grayling was called U.S. 27 until 2001, when it was renamed U.S. 127.