At present, work is underway to complete an 18 km (11 mi) central section that will join the eastern and western portions together through the very northern part of the Japanese Alps on Niigata's and Fukushima's prefectural border.

The western part of Route 289 begins in Yoshida passing east through the towns of Tsubame and Sanjo.

The eastern part of Route 289 starts in Iwaki, Fukushima near Nakoso Station.

But the scheme suffered a major setback after the Chūetsu earthquake in 2004 when landslips covered large parts of the route.

The finished route, which presently is a dirt track and is only passable by 4x4s or construction traffic, will include several spanned bridges, avalanche covers and a 1.5 km tunnel.