As of July 2011, the entire motorway route is completed, consisting of a dual-carriageway and four traffic lanes, except for a relatively short segment which is still a single carriageway road.

[3] The motorway is of major importance to Croatia in terms of economic development, especially for tourism and as a transit transport route.

The route serves Zagreb via the Ž1035 at the Jankomir interchange, Zaprešić via the D225, Zabok, Klanjec and Oroslavje via the D307, Sveti Križ Začretje via the D35, Krapina and Pregrada via the D206, Đurmanec via the D207 and Trakošćan via the D508.

There are a number of rest areas along the motorway providing various types of services, ranging from simple parking spaces and restrooms to filling stations, restaurants and hotels.

[7] As of July 2011, the motorway has seven interchanges providing access to numerous towns and cities and the Croatian state road network.

The system uses variable traffic signs to communicate changing driving conditions, possible restrictions and other information to motorway users.

[15] The northernmost segment between the Krapina interchange and the Macelj border crossing traverses rugged terrain, requiring further viaducts and tunnels.

[16] Generally, the Krapina–Macelj border crossing segment of the A2 motorway required numerous expensive engineering works, including six tunnels and nine viaducts, which caused the construction cost to be over 235 million euros.

[17] The section included a number of bridges and viaducts, spanning the Sava River and numerous roads and railroads, making construction of a dual-carriageway prohibitively expensive at the time.

This part of motorway was built at the site of the so-called "Zagorje Highway" (Croatian: Zagorska Magistrala) – a limited-access two-lane expressway built in 1950's and 1960's that connected Slovenian border through Hrvatsko Zagorje with Zagreb, which today exists only in the southern part of its original route (between Zaprešić interchange and Gubaševo – where it terminates in the immediate vicinity of the motorway interchange).

[18][19] In 1997, the governments of the Republic of Croatia and the German state of Bavaria made a joint declaration regarding their future transport infrastructure development cooperation.

The cooperation primarily dealt with the construction of the remaining A2 motorway sections and the Franjo Tuđman Bridge, and the two issues were formally settled between the Croatian government and Walter Bau AG.

Furthermore, a joint investment agreement with Walter Bau AG was signed by the government, effectively securing the financial assets required to resume construction.

[15][20] In 2007, after 33 months of construction defined by the contracts, the motorway was completed along its entire length, except for a short segment near Krapina which, as of July 2011, is still a single-carriageway road.

[10][21][22] The largest portion of the total pertains to the northernmost 20-kilometre (12 mi) section between Krapina and Macelj, which was reported to cost 235 million euros.

[24] Traffic is regularly counted and reported by Autocesta Zagreb–Macelj, the operator of the motorway, and is published by Hrvatske Ceste.