The portion of Route 17 from US 46 to I-287 near the state line in Mahwah is a four- to six-lane arterial with all cross traffic handled by interchanges, and many driveways and side streets accessed from right-in/right-out ramps from the right lane.

The northernmost portion of Route 17 in Mahwah runs concurrently with I-287 to the New York state line.

[1] With the exception of a short stretch in Rutherford with a median strip, this section of Route 17 is divided by a jersey barrier.

[3] Route 17 continues north through commercial areas, crossing into Rochelle Park where the route passes over New York, Susquehanna and Western Railway's New Jersey Subdivision line and interchanges with CR 62 (Passaic Street) before entering Paramus.

[1][2] Route 17 comes to a partial interchange with the Garden State Parkway, with access limited to northbound-to-northbound and southbound-to-southbound movements between the two roads.

North of the Garden State Parkway, Route 17 features interchanges for Midland Avenue, the Paramus Park shopping mall and an industrial park, and CR 80 (Ridgewood Avenue) just north of the Fashion Center shopping mall.

[1][2] Route 17 crosses into Ridgewood and interchanges with CR 110 (Linwood Avenue), where the penetration of businesses along the side of the road lessens dramatically.

Past here, there is a park and ride lot serving Short Line commuter and intercity buses accessible from the southbound direction.

[1] Upon crossing into Ho-Ho-Kus, the businesses stop along Route 17 and it comes to an interchange with CR 502 (Hollywood Avenue).

It enters Saddle River, continuing north to an interchange with CR 90 (Allendale Avenue).

The route comes to an interchange with CR 81 (Lake Street/Crescent Avenue), where it crosses back into Ramsey.

The Franklin Turnpike was legislated in 1806 to run from Hackensack north to the New York state line at Suffern.

[4] Route 17N was defined in 1923 to run "from Newark, by way of Kearny, Rutherford, Hackensack, Ridgewood and Ramsey to the New York State Line".

[10] This old alignment joins at Paramus Road and leaves just north of the bridge at Franklin Turnpike, which only has access to the southbound lanes through a RIRO intersection.

The plans for this 5 mi (8.0 km), $50 million extension were cancelled due to the defeat of a transportation bond that would have funded the proposed freeway.

[19] Route 17 has been the object of several studies exploring a Bergen BRT, a bus rapid transit system that would potentially alleviate some traffic congestion and decrease automobile dependency.

While funding has not been identified, the potential routes of the system have centered around the vicinity radiating from the malls of Paramus.