Minnesota State Highway 120

Minnesota State Highway 120 (MN 120) is a 7.2 mi state highway in Minnesota, which runs from a point south of its interchange with Interstate 94 (I-94) in Maplewood (near Landfall) and continues north to its northern terminus at its intersection with MN 244 and County Road 15 (CR 15) at the White Bear Lake–Mahtomedi boundary line.

MN 120 is also known as Century Avenue, Geneva Avenue, and Division Street at various points throughout its route.

The highway runs along the Washington–Ramsey county line for most of its length.

Route description
MN 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 MN 120 near MN 36 at the North St. Paul–Oakdale boundary line. MN 120 mostly parallels I-694 throughout its route. MN 120 also has an interchange with I-694 at the White Bear Lake–Mahtomedi line.

The route is legally defined as Route 117 in the Minnesota Statutes. It is not marked with this number.

History
The present day MN 120 was established in 1965. Previously, this route was part of MN 100 (hence the name Century Avenue) from 1934 to 1965.

This route was originally part of the MN 100 beltway circling the entire Twin Cities during the 1940s and 1950s.

MN 120 was numbered as a derivative of MN 100.

The Minnesota Legislature approved the removal of MN 120 from the state trunk highway system in Washington and Ramsey counties in 2001. The portion of the route in Washington County (from I-94 to I-494) has been removed, however the part of the highway in Ramsey County is still marked and the legal definition of its legislative route has not been changed.

At one time, MN 120 had continued farther south. Before 2002, the route had continued south of I-94 on present day CSAH 72/CSAH 25 (the Maplewood–Woodbury boundary line) until reaching Valley Creek Road in Woodbury. MN 120 then briefly followed Valley Creek Road (present day CR 16) eastbound until its interchange with I-494.

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