text: new jersey route 172 route 172 is a short state highway in new brunswick , new jersey , united states . the designation runs along the southernmost leg of george street , which is county and city - maintained the rest of the way . route 172 is 0 . 81 miles ( 1 . 30 km ) long , serving as a connector from an interchange with route 18 to an intersection with county route 527 . 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 underwent a major upgrade during the reconstruction of route 18 , including a roundabout at an intersection with cr 617 , and a brand - new interchange with the local lanes of route 18 . route description route 172 begins at an interchange with the local lanes of route 18 in the city of new brunswick . the highway heads northward and passes through the douglass campus of rutgers university . route 172 then intersects with a local road , which serves the purposes of the university . the highway then progresses towards county route 617 ( cr 617 ; ryders lane ) , which heads southward from a roundabout with route 172 . route 172 then turns to the west along george street . after the roundabout , the highway intersects with nichol avenue and route 172 continues into downtown new brunswick . there , the highway intersects with bishop street , and terminates at an intersection with commercial avenue and cr 527 continues along george street , the right - of - way . history route 172 originated as alignment of state highway route s - 28 , which was assigned in the 1927 state highway renumbering . in the 1953 renumbering , state highway route s - 28 was reassigned as route 18 . however , just a few years after the designation of nj 18 in new brunswick along george street , construction of a bypass around new brunswick began . the highway was constructed along burnet street , which became state - maintained by the state highway department . the route was completed to route 27 , and route 18 was moved onto that alignment . the former alignment of route 18 remained state - maintained up to the intersection with commercial avenue , which was eventually re - designated as route 172 . when the new jersey department of transportation started construction on upgrading the bypass , the fly - over ramp and on - ramp to and from route 172 were torn down for construction of a new interchange along a new local / express format . the overpass was closed on october 12 , 2007 to begin the construction . the bridge was built by 1955 and was replaced in 2008 . on january 2 , 2009 , the new exit ramp for route 18 to route 172 was reopened to traffic . major intersections the entire route is in new brunswick , middlesex county .