It is an intercity route that travels in an east to west direction from Osaka to Kobe, with a total length of 39.4 kilometers (24.5 mi).

It meets the planned outer loop expressway of the city, the partially completed Yodogawa-Sagan Route, on the southern bank of the Yodo River.

The elevated section of the expressway in central Kobe was built in 1969 during the preparation for the Expo '70 world's fair held in nearby Suita.

[5] When 18 spans of this section collapsed in 1995 during the Great Hanshin earthquake, the stricken expressway became a focal point of the disaster for the media.

The elevated expressway was rebuilt by the end of 1996 and the surviving pillars were retrofitted with steel sheathing to prevent the same type of failure from recurring.