It connects the city of Kashiwazaki in south-central Niigata Prefecture to the prefecture's capital city, Niigata, to the north along the Sea of Japan coastline.

It runs closer to the coastline of the Sea of Japan, while the aforementioned highways take a more inland route.

While National Route 8 travels through the center of the cities Nagaoka, Mitsuke, and Sanjō, National Route 116 passes only through the center of the city of Tsubame.

[2] A 7.9-kilometer-long (4.9 mi) section of the highway in Niigata makes up the southernmost section of the Niigata Bypass, a limited-access road that travels along the eastern edge of the city's center.

[5] The highway was heavily damaged in Kashiwazaki during the 2007 Chūetsu offshore earthquake.