The road runs from Kapiri Mposhi via Ndola, Kitwe and Chingola to Kasumbalesa on the border with DR Congo.

[3] In Kapiri Mposhi, the T3 connects with the T2 to Lusaka, making it part of the main link between Zambia's capital city and DR Congo.

[11] As Kabwe Road, it enters Ndola in a northwesterly direction, bypassing the industrial area of Bwana Mkubwa.

At the roundabout by the Ndola Teaching Hospital, the T3 continues westwards by way of a left turn onto Luanshya Road (2 lanes in each direction), where it separates the Hillcrest and Kansenshi neighbourhoods.

[12] At the Levy Mwanawasa Stadium roundabout, the T3 becomes the Ndola-Kitwe Dual Carriageway, which is the road between Ndola and Kitwe (2 lanes in each direction).

Before the Michael Chilufya Sata Toll Plaza, the carriageway meets a road which provides access to the Dag Hammarskjöld Crash Site Memorial and the Simon Mwansa Kapwepwe International Airport.

[2] The road enters Kitwe city centre as President Avenue, beginning by crossing the Kafue River, passing the Luangwa and Wusakili neighbourhoods and bypassing the Nkana Mine.

It goes northwest, separating the south-western part of Chingola from the central and eastern areas (bypassing Kasompe Airport & the Nchanga Copper mine).

[2] From the T5 junction in Chingola, the T3 goes north for 17 km, crossing the Kafue River one more time, to the small town of Chililabombwe.

It starts at a junction with the T3 approximately 34 kilometres south of Ndola by Masangano in Masaiti District (near Kafulafuta), going north-west for 33 kilometres (crossing the Kafubu River) and rejoins the T3 just north of the small area of Fisenge in Luanshya District (8 km north of Luanshya), at the point where the T3 turns to the direction of Kitwe.

[15] After the deal was renegotiated in February 2023 as a public-private partnership (concession), rehabilitating the entire M6 remained part of the Lusaka-Ndola Dual Carriageway agreement.

[22] The total cost of this 320 km road, after several increments, was finalized at $1.2 billion and construction began from Lusaka going northwards.

[25] The deal was made with the China Jiangxi Corporation for International Economic and Technical Cooperation (CJIC) to construct the road.

[22] In August 2021 (just after Zambia's Presidential Election), the newly-appointed Infrastructure, Housing and Urban Development Minister, Charles Milupi, stated that the road would cost less than the prescribed $1.2 billion under President Hakainde Hichilema's government.

[33] On 26 March 2024 at a contract signing, the National Pension Scheme Authority (NAPSA) stated that the Lusaka-Ndola Dual Carriageway project is expected to cost $650 million and that it would be completed in 36 months.

[40] On 7 October 2024, the National Road Fund Agency (NRFA) stated that the three already-existing toll gates on the 320-kilometre stretch between Lusaka and Ndola (Katuba; Manyumbi; Kafulafuta) will be handed over to the concessionaire (Macro Ocean Investment Consortium) on 30 November 2024.

[20] On 31 October 2022, the government of Zambia signed a Public–private partnership (concession) agreement for the 35 kilometre stretch of the T3 from the T5 junction in Chingola through Chililabombwe to the Kasumbalesa border post with DR Congo.

[45] President Hakainde Hichilema, alongside a few ministers, commissioned the Chingola-Kasumbalesa road on 12 April 2024 at the Konkola Toll Plaza.