Starting at the north-eastern suburbs of Coventry at junction 2 of the M6, the motorway crosses the Coventry Canal and then continues north-east past Bulkington and west of Wolvey before turning more easterly to run south of Hinckley (junction 2, known locally as 'Reacharound Island' because of the limited slip roads).

It then crosses the Birmingham to Peterborough railway line terminating in the vicinity of suburban Enderby and Braunstone to the south-west of Leicester junction 3, where it meets the M1 with continuation along the A5460/A563 towards Leicester.

[3] Plans for a service station were announced in November 2023, to be located at junction one at the Stretton Baskerville roundabout.

Welcome Break's application will be the first service station for the route.

[4] The route has been without services for over 50 years and currently has a 26-mile unserviced stretch, which exceeds the government's maximum recommendation of 14 miles between heavy goods vehicle stations.