It begins in Morocco's capital of Rabat, and connects to the northern port of Tanger-Med.

Another 30 km along the way is the interchange at Sidi El Yamani, connecting to the road to Tetouan and Ceuta.

[1] The axis technically comprises also the Rabat bypass, although it does not conform with motorway regulations.

Before its opening in 1997, getting to the origin of the road was a hard task for traffic coming from Casablanca, as the centre of Rabat had to be crossed.

In 2007 the toll-revenues for this road totaled 269 million dirhams (2006: 212 MDh), taking 2nd place in list of top earners in Morocco (Figure includes sections Tangier-RN2 and Tétouan - M'diq).