The route is a 21.5-kilometer (13.4 mi) long radial highway running north from Chiyoda City to Toda, Saitama.

From there it travels northwest through Shinjuku, Bunkyō, Toshima, and Itabashi in Tokyo before crossing over the Arakawa River into Toda in Saitama Prefecture where the Ikebukuro Route ends at Bijogi Junction where it intersects the Tokyo Gaikan Expressway.

The expressway continues northward as the Ōmiya Route to Ōmiya-ku.

[2] The Ikebukuro Route was first opened in March 1967 between Nishi-kanda and the expressway's southern terminus at Takebashi Junction.

[3] In preparation for increased congestion during the 2020 Summer Olympics, a new traffic-control system was installed in July 2019 along the expressway at the interchanges at Kita-Ikebukuro, Nishi-Kanda, Gokokuji, Nakadai, Takashimadaira, Toda-minami, Higashi-Ikebukuro, and Iidabashi.