Indiana State Road 120
Encyclopedia
U.S. state
A U.S. state is any one of the 50 federated states of the United States of America that share sovereignty with the federal government. Because of this shared sovereignty, an American is a citizen both of the federal entity and of his or her state of domicile. Four states use the official title of...
of Indiana
Indiana
Indiana is a US state, admitted to the United States as the 19th on December 11, 1816. It is located in the Midwestern United States and Great Lakes Region. With 6,483,802 residents, the state is ranked 15th in population and 16th in population density. Indiana is ranked 38th in land area and is...
is an east–west state highway
State highway
State highway, state road or state route can refer to one of three related concepts, two of them related to a state or provincial government in a country that is divided into states or provinces :#A...
located close to the Michigan
Michigan
Michigan is a U.S. state located in the Great Lakes Region of the United States of America. The name Michigan is the French form of the Ojibwa word mishigamaa, meaning "large water" or "large lake"....
border. It runs from Elkhart
Elkhart, Indiana
Elkhart is a city in Elkhart County, Indiana, United States. The city is located east of South Bend, northwest of Fort Wayne, east of Chicago, and north of Indianapolis...
in the west to the Michigan border at the eastern edge of Indiana.
Route description
The western terminus of State Road 120 is in ElkhartElkhart, Indiana
Elkhart is a city in Elkhart County, Indiana, United States. The city is located east of South Bend, northwest of Fort Wayne, east of Chicago, and north of Indianapolis...
at Middleton Run Road (which was Indiana State Road 319 before 120 was shortened to this point) as a surface street and an eastern terminus on the short north–south border between Indiana and Michigan
Michigan
Michigan is a U.S. state located in the Great Lakes Region of the United States of America. The name Michigan is the French form of the Ojibwa word mishigamaa, meaning "large water" or "large lake"....
, where it becomes a county road called Territorial Road (formerly M-120
M-120 (Michigan highway)
M-120 is a state trunkline highway in the US state of Michigan in the southwest Lower Peninsula. The highway runs northeast from Muskegon to Hesperia. In between, the road passes through suburban Muskegon, forests and farmland...
) a few miles east of Fremont
Fremont, Indiana
Fremont is a town in Fremont Township, Steuben County, Indiana, United States. The population was 2,138 at the 2010 census. Settled in 1834 as Willow Prairie, it became the Village of Brockville when it was platted in 1837. In 1848, it was renamed to honor John C...
.
Indiana's three-digit state highways are generally "children" of one-digit or two-digit state or U.S. highways in a manner analogous to that of the U.S. highway system. Indiana 120 has U.S. Route 20
U.S. Route 20
U.S. Route 20 is an east–west United States highway. As the "0" in its route number implies, US 20 is a coast-to-coast route. Spanning , it is the longest road in the United States, and the route sparsely parallels Interstate 90...
as its "parent", to which it is nearly parallel. Until the 1990s, when U.S. 20 was diverted to a limited-access highway to the south of Elkhart, State Road 120 had its western terminus in Elkhart on U.S. 20. After the realignment of U.S. 20, the two miles (3 km) of State Road 120 between the former U.S. 20 through Elkhart and Middleton Run Road were trimmed from it, effective 2000-09-11.
All of Indiana 120 is an undivided surface highway, lightly traveled throughout most of its route due to the nearby Indiana Toll Road
Indiana Toll Road
The Indiana Toll Road, officially the Indiana East–West Toll Road, is a toll road that runs for east–west across northern Indiana from the Illinois state line to the Ohio state line...
(also known as Interstate 80
Interstate 80
Interstate 80 is the second-longest Interstate Highway in the United States, following Interstate 90. It is a transcontinental artery running from downtown San Francisco, California to Teaneck, New Jersey in the New York City Metropolitan Area...
and Interstate 90
Interstate 90
Interstate 90 is the longest Interstate Highway in the United States at . It is the northernmost coast-to-coast interstate, and parallels US 20 for the most part. Its western terminus is in Seattle, at Edgar Martinez Drive S. near Safeco Field and CenturyLink Field, and its eastern terminus is in...
) which carries most east–west long-distance travel through northern Indiana. Aside from Elkhart and Fremont, it does not traverse any towns with populations greater than 1000.
State Road 120 has direct access to the Indiana Toll Road and indirect access, through a short stretch of State Road 127
Indiana State Road 127
State Road 127 is a short north–south highway in northeast corner of the U.S. state of Indiana between State Road 120 and U.S. Highway 20 in Angola, Indiana. Its present length was formerly a part of old U.S. Route 27, whose designation was moved to the new Interstate 69 when the freeway was...
, to Interstate 69
Interstate 69
Interstate 69 is an Interstate Highway in the United States. It exists in two parts: a completed highway from Indianapolis, Indiana, northeast to the Canadian border in Port Huron, Michigan, and a mostly proposed extension southwest to the Mexican border in Texas...
a few miles west of Fremont.
West to east, the following towns and villages can be found on State Road 120:
- ElkhartElkhart, IndianaElkhart is a city in Elkhart County, Indiana, United States. The city is located east of South Bend, northwest of Fort Wayne, east of Chicago, and north of Indianapolis...
- BristolBristol, IndianaBristol is a town in Washington Township, Elkhart County, Indiana, United States. The population was 1,602 at the 2010 census.-Geography:Bristol is located at ....
- HoweHowe, IndianaHowe is an unincorporated town in Lima Township, LaGrange County, Indiana.- Local Places on the National Register:Sites in Howe on the National Register of Historic Places are:...
- BrightonBrighton, IndianaBrighton is an unincorporated town in Greenfield Township, LaGrange County, Indiana....
- OrlandOrland, IndianaOrland is a town located in the northwest corner of Steuben County, Indiana in Millgrove Township at the intersection of State Road 120 and State Road 327. The population was 434 at the 2010 census...
- FremontFremont, IndianaFremont is a town in Fremont Township, Steuben County, Indiana, United States. The population was 2,138 at the 2010 census. Settled in 1834 as Willow Prairie, it became the Village of Brockville when it was platted in 1837. In 1848, it was renamed to honor John C...
History
Before receiving the State Road 120 designation, the road was known as Toledo Road, as the section within Elkhart it used to occupy is still known, and is presently named Toledo Street as it passes through Orland and through Fremont.At one time, State Road 120 was to have been rerouted onto Elkhart County Road 17
County Road 17 (Elkhart County, Indiana)
Elkhart County Road 17 is a north–south artery in Elkhart County, Indiana. It is currently undergoing improvements to become a four lane divided road with non-limited traffic. Elkhart County road 17 starts at the state line, connecting with state highway M-217 in Michigan. The roadway crosses...
to end at U.S. 20.