The route is a 10.5-kilometer (6.5 mi) long radial highway running northeast from Chūō City to Katsushika.

It connects Tokyo's Inner Circular Route in central Tokyo to the Central Circular Route and the Misato Route, which eventually leads to the Jōban Expressway that connects the Kantō region to the Tōhoku region.

From there it travels northeast through Sumida before crossing over the Arakawa River into Katsushika where Route 6 ends at Horikiri Junction with the northeastern section of the Central Circular Route.

Hakozaki Junction, where the expressway meets the Fukagawa Route, was opened on 5 February 1980.

The final section of the expressway between Mukojima and its northern terminus at Horikiri Junction was opened on 30 March 1982.