The 26-kilometre (16 mi) route begins at Highway 99, 1.6 kilometres (1.0 mi) north of the Peace Arch Border Crossing with the United States, and runs generally northwest to the south end of the Pattullo Bridge, a crossing of the Fraser River that connects Surrey with New Westminster.

With the completion of the Pattullo Bridge in 1937 and the King George Highway in 1940, motorists were provided with a more efficient route between Vancouver and New Westminster and the U.S. border.

Highway 1A and 99A were decommissioned in 2006 and the name was changed to "King George Boulevard" in 2009 "to project an image of a modern, safe, walkable and livable City Centre community",[3] given that portions of the corridor have had a reputation for being dangerous and having a high incidence of criminal activity.

It crosses over Highway 99 and passes through the more suburban and rural Panorama Ridge neighbourhood, before crossing Highway 10 and passing through the populous town centres of Newton and Whalley, including the Surrey City Centre, a neighbourhood within Whalley which is Surrey's commercial core and emerging regional downtown.

The SkyTrain runs parallel to King George Boulevard, passing Central City shopping mall and other commercial developments before turning west.