The designation runs along the southernmost leg of George Street, which is county and city-maintained the rest of the way.

The highway was assigned in the 1950s, when nearby Route 18 was realigned onto a new freeway over Burnet Street in New Brunswick.

Route 172 (with CR 527 unsigned at this point) travels as a two-lane road southeast along George Street first passing residences before intersecting Bishop Street and Jones Avenue where both sides of the road become flanked by the Douglass Campus of Rutgers University.

The road crosses a small stream and passes under a pedestrian overpass before reaching a roundabout marking the northern terminus of CR 617 (Ryders Lane).

A pair of jughandles serve Gibbons Drive with a signalized intersection in the center.