OR 58 is a designated freight route, forming one of several connections between I-5 and US 97, which leads back to I-5 at Weed, California. This is a popular alternate route for trucks on the I-5 corridor, avoiding the steep grades and winter closures of I-5 over Siskiyou Summit. The highway is also on the National Highway System, and is classified as an expressway southeast of Odell Lake. (US 97 is also classified as such south to the state line, and in California it is part of the Freeway and Expressway System.) This matches the general routes of the 1887 Oregon and California Railroad over Siskiyou Summit and the 1926 Natron Cutoff along OR 58 and US 97; the latter is now part of the Union Pacific Railroad's I-5 Corridor rail line, while the former is the Central Oregon and Pacific Railroad shortline.