County Road 122 (Hennepin County, Minnesota)

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County Road 122 is an unsigned county state-aid highway in Minneapolis, Hennepin County, Minnesota, United States, crossing the Mississippi River on the Washington Avenue Bridge. It connects the East Bank and West Bank of the University of Minnesota Minneapolis campus. On the East Bank, the road is Washington Avenue and is the primary route through the Stadium Village district of the University. On the West Bank, the road is a short freeway, with exits to Cedar Avenue and Interstate 35W, that feeds into 3rd Street and 4th Street in downtown Minneapolis. Between them is the double-decker Washington Avenue Bridge that carries vehicular traffic on the lower level and bicycle and pedestrian traffic on the top level.

The route stretches from I-35W east to University Avenue (CR 36); the continuation west of I-35W into 3rd and 4th Streets (which cross downtown to I-94 at exit 230) is a city street.^[1]^[2] Since parts of County Road 18 and County Road 62 were transferred to the state in 1988, CR 122 is the only freeway maintained by Hennepin County.

[edit] History

In 1933, the Minnesota State Legislature added the corridor formed by Washington and University Avenues to the state highway system as part of Legislative Route 104:

Beginning at the present terminus of Route No. 3 on the easterly limits of the City of St. Paul, thence extending in a northwesterly direction through the cities of St. Paul and Minneapolis to the present point of beginning of Route No. 3 on the westerly limits of the City of Minneapolis.

By the time the Minnesota Department of Highways had laid out the numbering in 1934, this corridor served as US 12, US 52, US 218 (soon TH 218), and TH 56. TH 56 remained on University Avenue on the east side of the Mississippi, but the three other routes all crossed the Washington Avenue Bridge into downtown. US 12 turned off Washington Avenue to the west on Hennepin Avenue, and US 52 and US 218 left at Broadway Avenue (now County Road 81).^[3] TH 218 was later eliminated, and TH 56 north of Washington Avenue became TH 47, but otherwise the routes remained the same - even exiting the new freeway to remain on Washington Avenue -^[4] until 1981.^{[citation needed]}

In July 1981,^{[citation needed]} US 12 was rerouted onto I-94 between the downtowns, while the route of US 52 was changed to use the Third Avenue Bridge, replacing the southernmost piece of TH 47 on University Avenue, and using 3rd and 4th Streets to I-94 at exit 230. Washington Avenue through downtown was removed from the state highway system, and the bridge and approaches received a new Trunk Highway number - Highway 122 - and a new Legislative Route number - Route 385.^{[citation needed]}^[5] The definition of Route 385 was repealed in 1996,^[6] and in November of that year the highway was transferred to the county.^[7]

[edit] Exit list

Mile	Destinations	Notes
	I-35W south / TH 55 east (Hiawatha Avenue)	I-94 west can be accessed via I-35W
	To I-35W north / Cedar Avenue (CR 152)
	Washington Avenue Bridge
	East River Parkway	Eastbound exit and westbound entrance