Stretching parallel to the Amur–Yakutsk Mainline railway, the highway takes its name from the Lena River, which runs more or less north–south in this part of Siberia.

When frozen in the winter, this made for an excellent surface, and the posted speed limit was 70 kilometres per hour (43 mph).

However, in the summer, with any kind of significant rain, the road transformed to impassable mud that often swallowed whole smaller vehicles.

The history of the federal highway "Lena" is inextricably linked with the start of exploration and development of gold deposits in the upper reaches of the Amur and South Yakutia basins of the Timpton and Aldan rivers.

Delivery of goods was very expensive, so the Upper Amur company started to build a dirt road.

At the same time, from Yakutia to Chulman was passed firebreak width 10 fathoms (21.3metra) and a length of 128 km, which was used as a winter road.

The constructed Bolshoy Nimnyr road was used not only for movement on carts and gigs, but in winter, it moved on sledges and sleds, when for the first time began to use camels.

The initiator of the introduction of this type of transport was one of the agents of the Upper Amur Company, which bought 100 animals in the Trans-Baikal region.

Camels are well adapted to local conditions, they were unpretentious, less sensitive to lack of feed and can carry several times more cargo than reindeer and horses.

In summer passenger ferry operates, in the winter (December - April) traffic is possible via ice road, while during short spring and autumn, river crossing is possible only by air or hovercraft.

In July 2013 the Federal Road Agency requested a tender to build a three-kilometer road-only bridge over the river, expecting a cost of $1.7 bn/56 bn RUB, and a 6-year construction period.

Construction of a road bridge over the River Lena to Yakutsk was approved by president Vladimir Putin on 9 Nov 2019.