As of June 2020, it has a total length of 92.4 kilometers (57.4 mi), though the highway is in the process of being upgraded to the Miyako–Morioka Connector (宮古盛岡横断道路, Miyako–Morioka Ōdandōro), which will follow a shorter route than the older highway.

National Route 106 is one of the primary west-east highways in Iwate Prefecture and the main route between the cities of Miyako on the Pacific coast and Morioka in the prefecture's interior plains.

It carries traffic across the Kitakami Mountains that separate the two cities.

The upgrades to the route were completed in 1978[3] After the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami, plans were created to streamline the highway's route by a series of tunnels and bridges through the Kitakami Mountains between Miyako and Morioka.

Some sections will be upgraded to expressway standards as the highway is rebuilt.