The BR-040 traverses Distrito Federal and the states of Goiás, Minas Gerais and Rio de Janeiro.

The initial draft saw the highway planned from Brasília to São João da Barra, (RJ).

The stretch between Petrópolis and Juiz de Fora included the Estrada União e Indústria, the first Brazilian highway, inaugurated on July 23, 1861 by Dom Pedro II.

After crossing the Rio Meriti and passing by Duque de Caxias, the highway ends at Praça Mauá.

In the year 1926 President of the Republic Washington Luís declared to the nation that "governing means opening roads".

One of the priorities was the Rio-Petrópolis highway, especially since the national press had heavily criticised the abandonment of the road to the Imperial City.

An outbreak of malaria occurred in the lowlands, while in the mountains of Petrópolis workers were forced to live in makeshift accommodation.

President Washington Luís, alongside his ministers and regional authorities, inaugurated the Rio-Petrópolis highway on the 25th of August 1928.

No less than 1,783 cars took to the road, causing a reporter to compare the long, slow queues to those of Avenida Central.

In 1982, the highway was widened from Belo Horizonte to the junction with the BR-356 for Ouro Preto, as was the stretch from Alfredo Vasconcelos to Serra da Mantiqueira near Santos Dumont.

[citation needed] In 1970, Toni Tornado won the Festival Internacional da Canção with soul song BR-3.

Over the years the northern part of Minas Gerais has developed and the increasing flow of vehicles, mostly trucks loaded with coal for steel works, has made the journey untenable.

Roadworks were planned to widen the BR-040 highway by the Federal Government in January 2007, beginning with the stretch between Sete Lagoas and the junction with the BR-135 at o Trevão de Curvelo.