[7] Generally, the Federal Route 3 runs mostly along the east coast of Peninsular Malaysia.

At Pekan, the FT3 crosses the Pahang River via the Sultan Abu Bakar Bridge FT3 and proceeds to Kuantan as a divided highway.

At Pasir Mas, the FT3 highway is diverted west towards Rantau Panjang at the Malaysia–Thailand border.

[8] The Federal Route 3 began as an 8 miles (13 km) short road from Johor Bahru to Sungai Pandan, which formed the present-day Tebrau Highway FT3.

[12] As a result, the Batu Pahat–Kluang–Mersing Road was completed in 1919,[9] where the section from Jemaluang to Mersing formed a part of the present-day Federal Route 3.

As a result, a gap between Pekan to Endau existed due to very scarce population and swampy terrain.

[1] Like its west coastal counterpart, the construction of the Federal Route 3 required a lot of longer bridges.

[1] Besides, the Federal Route 3 remains popular as a scenic coastal route of the east coast of Peninsular Malaysia and is unaffected by the presence of the East Coast Expressway Phase 2 (ECE2) E8, due to the fact that the FT3 highway has been recognized by the National Geographic Society as one of the top 10 coastal highways in Asia.