CR 81, between the Robbinsdale and Minneapolis border and present-day US 169 in Brooklyn Park, was constructed between the late 1940s and 1950s. CR 81 was the main road connecting Minneapolis and the northwest until I-94 and I-494 were completed. Formerly a trunk highway supervised by the state and known as
US 52,
US 169,
MN 101,
MN 152, and
MN 218 in various segments at various times, the state turned over management of the roadway to Hennepin County in 1988 and it was renumbered to CR 81. From 1982 to 1988, a portion of the route was known as MN 81. In 2005, the portion of CR 81 from Rogers to Robbinsdale was signed as Bottineau Boulevard, named after historic frontiersman
Pierre Bottineau. The portion of CR 81 in North Minneapolis is still signed as West Broadway. In 2004, the at-grade intersection with
MN 100 was converted into an interchange along with other intersections on MN 100 during a reconstruction project. In 2008, a reconstruction project in Robbinsdale (Lowry Avenue to MN 100) was completed. Also, in Maple Grove, a reconstruction project near Fernbrook Lane, Elm Creek Boulevard, and Maple Grove Parkway was completed, reconstructing the Fernbrook Lane intersection and adding new intersections at Elm Creek Boulevard and Maple Grove Parkway, when Elm Creek Boulevard was extended and Maple Grove Parkway was paved to its reconstructed interchange with I-94. In 2011, the intersection with US 169 was converted into an interchange, along with the road's reconstruction from the former intersection with US 169 to CR 109 (85th Avenue), the extension of the nearby 83rd Avenue North and construction on local streets. Also in 2011, when MN 610 was extended, a half of a new interchange was built south of CR 130 (Elm Creek Boulevard) near the end of the new portion of MN 610. In Rogers, CR 81's terminus was moved from its former intersection with MN 101/CR 150 to MN 101's interchange with I-94. Also the intersection with MN 101 and CR 150 was demolished, during a different road construction project. ==Future==