This major northbound Johannesburg road is roughly 12 km long and is mostly a two or three lane dual carriageway.

It passes the East campus of the University of Witwatersrand on its left and Helpmekaar College on the right before descending into the leafy suburb of Parktown where it crosses over a major intersection with the M71 Empire Road.

After crossing Empire Road, passes over the M1 De Villiers Graaff motorway with several entrances and exits at this intersection.

A short while later it resumes as a dual carriageway passes into Hyde Park where at a major intersection close to the Hyde Park Corner shopping centre, the road splits north-west when it intersects the start of the Winnie Mandela Drive (M81).

It then enters the old Randburg suburbs of Blairgowrie and Bordeaux intersecting Bram Fischer Drive in Ferndale where Jan Smuts Avenue ends.