At its start, Metro Parkway is a four-lane divided expressway with signalized intersections at major roads, but very limited access from side streets.

The east end of Metro Parkway is in Harrison Township at the main entrance to Lake St. Clair Metropark, at an intersection with Jefferson Avenue.

After it crosses Van Dyke Avenue, Metro Parkway passes Chrysler's Sterling Heights Assembly plant, before a short overpass carries the road over a railroad track.

Big Beaver initially runs through a residential area, but the corridor progressively becomes more commercialized as it approaches I-75, with strip malls on either side at the Rochester Road intersection.

The three-mile segment of Big Beaver between Rochester Road and Coolidge Highway forms Troy's central business district, and is one of the busiest corridors in Oakland County.

The two buildings of the high-end Somerset Collection shopping mall, connected by an enclosed pedestrian bridge, flank Big Beaver on either side as it approaches Coolidge Highway.