This portion of the route was decommissioned as part of the provincial highway system in 1980 with the construction of the freeway segment.

From the Mikkola interchange easterly, however, the route continued to hold the Highway 17 designation until the completion of the Southeast Bypass in 1995.

This portion of the route continues east as an at-grade expressway into Copper Cliff, where the median narrows to a paved strip until reaching the Big Nickel Road interchange.

At that interchange, the road narrows back down to a single carriageway, albeit one with multiple lanes of traffic in each direction, and no longer has any access control.

The Ministry of Transportation is currently undertaking planning studies on a further realignment of the Highway 17 route through Nickel Centre toward Markstay.