Hennepin County Road 81 is a county highway which runs from I-94, County Road 66 (Broadway east of I-94), and County Road 152 (Washington Avenue) in Minneapolis, Minnesota to Main Street (Hwy. 101) in Rogers, Minnesota and is twenty-three-miles in length. County Road 81 passes through the Northwest suburban communities of Rogers, Dayton, Maple Grove, Osseo, Brooklyn Park, Crystal, Robbinsdale, and the city of Minneapolis.
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History
County 81, between the Robbinsdale and Minneapolis border and present-day Highway 169 in Brooklyn Park, was constructed between the late 1940s and 1950s. Until Interstates 94 and 494 were built, County 81 served as the principal route between Minneapolis and points northwest.
Formerly a trunk highway supervised by the State and known as U.S. 52, U.S. 169, State Hwy. 101, State Hwy. 152, and State Hwy. 218 in various segments at various times, the state turned over management of the road to Hennepin County in 1988 and renumbered it County Road 81. (From 1982 to 1988, a portion of the route was known as Trunk Highway 81).
Redevelopment
- See also: Bottineau Boulevard Transitway
Since 2000, local governments and business leaders in the County Road 81 corridor (also known as the Northwest Corridor Partnership) have been working in partnership on a strategic redevelopment plan supported by a transit line. Rapid bus transit was originally considered for this corridor in the early 2000s. Since 2007, light rail transit is now being studied as the more favorable option. The portion of County 81 from Rogers to Robbinsdale will be signed as Bottineau Boulevard in the near future, named after historic frontiersman Pierre Bottineau. The portion of County 81 in North Minneapolis will remain signed as West Broadway.
Reconstruction work proposed on County Road 81
A 7.5-mile (12.1 km) segment of County Road 81 is anticipated to begin reconstruction in 2010. This section is from 47th Avenue North in the city of Robbinsdale to County Road 30 in the city of Maple Grove, resulting ultimately in a six-lane divided urban roadway. This proposed project also passes through the cities of Crystal, Brooklyn Park, and Osseo. The goals of this project are to improve the safety and operations along the roadway, changes will be made to existing access. Major intersections will also be reconstructed. Construction will occur in segments. Construction of Segment One (47th Avenue North in Robbinsdale to County Road 10/Bass Lake Road in Crystal) is proposed to begin in 2010.
Major intersections with County Road 81
| Intersection | Notes |
|---|---|
 MN 101 |
Northern terminus in Rogers |
  CR 13 / CR 101 Brockton Lane |
|
| CR 121 - Fernbrook Lane | |
 CR 130 Elm Creek Blvd. |
Future intersection with  MN 610 |
 CR 30 93rd Ave. N. |
|
| Jefferson Hwy. - Central Ave. in Osseo | |
 US 169 |
Scheduled for upgrade from at-grade to interchange |
 CR 130 / CR 152 Brooklyn Blvd. |
|
 CR 8 W. Broadway |
|
  I-94 / I-694 |
|
 CR 10 Bass Lake Rd. |
|
 MN 100 |
Converted from at-grade to interchange in 2006 |
 CR 9 42nd Ave. N. |
|
| Lowry Ave. - Theodore Wirth Pkwy. | Interchange |
 CR 2 Penn Ave. |
|
 CR 66 west |
|
| I-94 |
|
| Washington Ave. N. - CR 66 east |
Southern terminus in Minneapolis |
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