Minnesota State Highway 120

Trunk Highway 120
Century Avenue
Route information
Defined by MS § 161.115(48)
Maintained by Mn/DOT
Length:	7.233 mi[1] (11.640 km)
Existed:	1965 – present
Major junctions
South end:	I-94 at Maplewood, Oakdale
	MN 5 at Maplewood , Oakdale MN 36 at North St. Paul , Oakdale I-694 at White Bear Lake , Mahtomedi
North end:	MN 244 at White Bear Lake , Mahtomedi
Location
Counties:	Ramsey, Washington
Highway system
Minnesota Trunk Highways Interstate US State Legislative routes ← MN 119 MN 121 →

Minnesota State Highway 120 (MN 120) is a highway in Minnesota, which runs from its interchange with Interstate Highway 94 in Maplewood (near Landfall) 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 boundary line. The route is 8 miles (13 km) in length.

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 and Ramsey 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.

Exit off of I-694 for MN 120

Highway 120 mostly parallels I-694 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.^[2] 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.^[3]

This route was originally part of the Highway 100 Beltway circling the entire Twin Cities during the 1940s and 1950s.^[3]

Highway 120 was numbered as a derivative of Highway 100.^[3]

The state began turning the route over to Washington and Ramsey counties in 2001.^[4] The portion of the route south of I-94 has been removed, but the rest of the highway 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. Highway 120 then briefly followed Valley Creek Road (present day County 16) eastbound until its interchange with I-494.^[3]

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.^[5]

Major intersections

The entire route follows the line between Ramsey and Washington counties.

Location	mi[1]	km	Destinations	Notes
Maplewood	2.114	3.402	CSAH 25 south / CSAH 72 south	Continuation past I-94
	2.279	3.668	I-94	I-94 exit 247; interchange.
Maplewood–Oakdale city line	4.178	6.724	MN 5 west / CSAH 6 east (Stillwater Road)
Oakdale	5.665	9.117	CSAH 14
North St. Paul	7.239	11.650	MN 36
White Bear Lake	8.228	13.242	I-694	I-694 exit 51; interchange.
Mahtomedi	9.347	15.043	MN 244 east (Wildwood Road) / CSAH 15 west (County Road E) / CR 27 north (East County Line Road)
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi       Concurrency terminus

References

Route map: Bing / Google

1. "Trunk Highway Log Point Listing - Construction District 5" (PDF). Minnesota Department of Transportation. 2010-08-20. Retrieved 2010-11-20.
2. "161.115, Additional Trunk Highways". Minnesota Statutes. Office of the Revisor of Statutes, State of Minnesota. 2010. Retrieved November 20, 2010.
3. Riner, Steve. "Details of routes 101–149". The Unofficial Minnesota Highways Page. Self-published. Retrieved November 20, 2010.
4. "Chapter 213-S.F. No. 1769, Sec. 4". Minnesota Session Laws for 2001. Office of the Revisor of Statutes. May 29, 2001. Retrieved November 20, 2010.
5. "MnDOT handing over stretch of Minnesota 5 to Washington County". TwinCities.com.