Minnesota State Highway 120 (MN 120) is a

highway A highway is any public or private road or other public way on land. It is used for major roads, but also includes other public roads and public tracks. In some areas of the United States, it is used as an equivalent term to controlled-acces ...

Minnesota Minnesota () is a state in the upper midwestern region of the United States. It is the 12th largest U.S. state in area and the 22nd most populous, with over 5.75 million residents. Minnesota is home to western prairies, now given over to ...

, which runs from a point south of its interchange with Interstate Highway 94 in Maplewood (near

Landfall Landfall is the event of a storm moving over land after being over water. More broadly, and in relation to human travel, it refers to 'the first land that is reached or seen at the end of a journey across the sea or through the air, or the fact ...

) and continues north to its northern terminus at its intersection with State Highway 244 and ''Ramsey County Road 15'' at the White Bear Lake /

Mahtomedi Mahtomedi ( ) is a city in Washington County, Minnesota, United States. The population was 7,676 at the 2010 census. Mahtomedi is considered to be a suburb of St. Paul, and is located between St. Paul and Stillwater. Geography Mahtomedi i ...

boundary line. Highway 120 is also known as ''Century Avenue'', ''Geneva Avenue'', and ''Division Street'' at various points throughout its route. The route runs along the county line for

Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered o ...

and

Ramsey Ramsey may refer to: Geography British Isles * Ramsey, Cambridgeshire, a small market town in England * Ramsey, Essex, a village near Harwich, England ** Ramsey and Parkeston, a civil parish formerly called just "Ramsey" * Ramsey, Isle of Man, t ...

counties for most of its length.

Route description

Highway 120 serves as a north–south route between the communities of Maplewood, Oakdale, North St. Paul, White Bear Lake, and Mahtomedi. The Gateway Bicycle Trail crosses Highway 120 near Highway 36 at the North St. Paul / Oakdale boundary line. MN 120 Century Avenue I-694 Exit

Highway 120 mostly parallels

I-694 Interstate 694 (I-694) is an east–west auxiliary Interstate Highway located in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul metropolitan area in the US state of Minnesota. The western terminus of the route is at its junction with I-94, I-494, and US H ...

throughout its route. Highway 120 also has an interchange with I-694 at the White Bear Lake / Mahtomedi boundary line. The route is legally defined as Route 117 in the Minnesota Statutes. It is not marked with this number.

History

The present day Highway 120 was established in 1965. Previously, this route was part of Highway 100 (hence the name Century Avenue) from 1934 to 1965. This route was originally part of the Highway 100 Beltway circling the entire

Twin Cities Twin cities are a special case of two neighboring cities or urban centres that grow into a single conurbation – or narrowly separated urban areas – over time. There are no formal criteria, but twin cities are generally comparable in sta ...

during the 1940s and 1950s. Highway 120 was numbered as a derivative of Highway 100. The 2001 Minnesota Legislature approved removal of Highway 120 from the state trunk highway system.

and

counties in 2001. The portion of the route in

(from I-94 to I-494) has been removed, but the part of the highway in

is still marked and the legal definition of its legislative route has not been changed. At one time, Highway 120 had continued farther south. Before 2002, the route had continued south of I-94 on present day ''County 72'' / ''County 25'' (the Maplewood / Woodbury boundary line) until reaching ''Valley Creek Road'' in

Woodbury Woodbury may refer to: Geography Antarctica *Woodbury Glacier, a glacier on Graham Land, British Antarctic Territory Australia * Woodbury, Tasmania, a locality in Australia England * Woodbury, Bournemouth, an area in Dorset *Woodbury, East Devo ...

. Highway 120 then briefly followed ''Valley Creek Road'' (present day ''County 16'') eastbound until its interchange with

I-494 Interstate 494 (I-494) is an auxiliary Interstate Highway making up part of a beltway of I-94, circling through the southern and western portions of the Minneapolis–Saint Paul metropolitan area in Minnesota. The road is coupled with I- ...

. Highway 120 previously had a brief concurrency with State Highway 5. In 2015, the state turned back the portions of Highway 5 along and east of Century Avenue over to Washington County.

Major intersections

References

External links

*{{commons category-inline, Minnesota State Highway 120 120 Transportation in Ramsey County, Minnesota Transportation in Washington County, Minnesota

Route description

History

Major intersections

See also

References

External links