From the intersection, SR 524 travels southeast on Main Street for two blocks and turns north onto 3rd Avenue, away from the center of downtown Edmonds.

The highway continues northeast through the primarily residential neighborhood west of Shell Creek and passes the Edmonds Center For the Arts.

The highway continues east, with a brief bend to the north around Scriber Lake, and intersects another spur route at 44th Avenue West to the south of Lynnwood's civic center complex.

[4] East of the interchange, SR 524 passes a few more blocks of big-box stores and a light industrial cluster before making a J-turn onto Filbert Road in the Swamp Creek canyon.

The highway descends from the hill and intersects SR 9 at Turner Corner before continuing due east into the Maltby industrial area.

[6] SR 524 travels along the north side of the industrial park and crosses a set of railroad tracks before it turns south onto Yew Way and east onto Paradise Lake Road.

The highway terminates at an at-grade intersection with SR 522, which continues southwest towards Woodinville as a freeway and northeast towards Monroe as a two-lane expressway.

[19][20] WSDOT installed a pair of roundabouts on both sides of the I-405 underpass in 2018 to handle increasing commuter traffic, with further unfunded plans to widen the roadway.

[21][22] In 2005, the Lynnwood city government began planning to widen a one-mile (1.6 km) section of 196th Street Southwest between SR 99 and I-5 to accommodate a business access and transit lane that would cost $50 million.

[23][24] The city government also plans to build a six-lane overpass that connects Poplar Way with 33rd Avenue West across I-5, providing access between Alderwood Mall Boulevard and 196th Street Southwest.