Lynn and Spring Forest roads were originally two separate roads that were later connected and now form an east/west link across north Raleigh. Spring Forest was completed by 1963 between Falls of Neuse and Wake Forest roads (this section ended near today's intersection with Atlantic Avenue), and Lynn only existed from Sandy Forks Road west to Lead Mine Road, where it ended and Jeffries School Road originally began, running west to Creedmoor Road.  In 1972, Lynn was extended west over Jeffries School to Ray Road, though the road was still discontinuous at Lead Mine (with only a pair of stop signs) until it was realigned in 1989.

The eastern extension of Spring Forest, from Wake Forest to US 401, was completed around 1975 as a four- or five-lane road except for the portion near US 401 which had (and has) only two lanes.

The two roads were connected in 1983, when Spring Forest was extended west along a new five-lane alignment from Falls of Neuse to Sandy Forks Road. Originally, Lynn was two lanes for its entire length and Spring Forest was three lanes from Falls of Neuse to Wake Forest.  Spring Forest was the first part of the corridor to be widened, in 1992 to five lanes.  Next, construction turned to Lynn, which would be a more significant undertaking because of the heavy residential development and high number of hills along the route.

Lynn Road was widened in two parts; the first, from Six Forks to Lead Mine Road, was completed in 1994.  At the same time, work was underway to extend Lynn west to end at Glenwood Avenue, giving North Raleigh a second route west to Glenwood and, ultimately, Research Triangle Park.  For a time, there were two five-lane sections of Lynn, connected by a nightmarish two-lane section between Ray and Lead Mine.  The remaining two-lane section was widened to five lanes by early 1996, and no improvements have been necessary since then (and are unlikely, with the exception of some intersection improvements, given the completion of I-540 through North Raleigh in 2002).