The road runs north of Moscow across a distance of 1271 kilometres through Mytishchi, Pushkino, Sergiyev Posad, Pereslavl-Zalessky, Rostov the Great, Yaroslavl, Danilov, Gryazovets, Vologda, Kadnikov, Velsk, Kholmogory, and Arkhangelsk, ending up in the city of Severodvinsk.

The predecessor of the highway was the Yam service state road which was established in the end of 14th century and connected Moscow to Kholmogory.

[1] Arkhangelsk was founded in 1548 and until early the 18th century served as the main gateway for foreign trade in Russia.

After the October Revolution of 1917 the road was subordinated to the Department of Northern Okrug of Local Transportation and pretty much neglected due to the lack of expertise.

[1] Much of the construction work was completed by the end of the 1970s, however, most of the road (all stretches north of Yaroslavl) still only supports two- or three-lane traffic.

The highway route continues further 45 kilometres (28 mi) along the left bank of the Northern Dvina to Severodvinsk where it terminates.

In Moscow, the two-level intersections are Media related to M8 Kholmogory Federal Highway (Russia) at Wikimedia Commons