A 5-mile (8.0 km) section of the route from Holbrook to Farmingville is a freeway, while the remainder of the road is an expressway with at-grade intersections.

At some point, the developed area ends, and CR 97 winds through the hills of Stony Brook University with numerous underpasses mainly for pedestrians.

The road started out as two different main highways through two different colleges in Suffolk County, and was built in stages from north to south.

A cloverleaf interchange with Portion Road was built in 1971, and the south-to-west ramp connected to both directions on Leeds Boulevard.

In the fall of 2008, the left turning lanes at Horse Block Place were eliminated to relieve traffic heading towards the college.

In from the late 20th Century to present day Nicholls Road is on speculation giving its rights to the NYSDOT as NY State Route 436.

Smith Turnpike was to replace Wireless Road, and continue north of NY 347, towards the vicinity of Port Jefferson Harbor leading to a possible bridge to Bridgeport, Connecticut.

Along with the merging of the Stony Brook University and Suffolk Community College sections was the 1971 extension south of Portion Road to the Long Island Expressway.

In the 1980s it actually was built as a cloverleaf, but to the newly installed service roads along Sunrise Highway, which required the elimination of two nearby roadside parking areas.