As far as road conditions were concerned, hard surface had been added to the portion of the route between Dalton and Chatsworth, and for portions of the route west of SR 183 and west of Dahlonega. The remaining gaps in the route were closed in 1948, when the section of the route between US 129 near Clermont, and US 23/SR 13 in Lula, was graded, and the route was extended from Gillsville to Maysville. With the exception of the new portion between Clermonth and Lula, and small section of the route in Gilmer and Dawson counties, the route had been finished in hard surface at the time. It was then just one more year before the portion of the route between Dalton and Ellijay was re-designated as SR 52, completing the routing and designation of this state highway. State Route 52 Alternate (SR 52 Alt.) serves as an alternate route from just west of Chatsworth into the heart of the city, while the mainline takes drivers through the northern and western parts of the city. It travels from the SR 52 mainline just east of the Whitfield–Murray county line southeast to SR 225, then east into downtown Chatsworth, where it ends at the concurrency of US 76/US 411/SR 2/SR 52/SR 61. The highway also passes by the Chief Vann House Historic Site.