The portion of Paterson Plank Road that lost its state highway status in 1953 gained it back in 1972, when it became an extension of Route 20 as a result of the construction of the Meadowlands Sports Complex.

Route 120 passes one of Meadowlands Racetrack's grandstands and parallels NJ Transit's Meadowlands Rail Line on the East Rutherford side of the road, while commercial and industrial development dominates the Carlstadt side of the road, intersecting with Gotham Parkway.

The route has a southbound exit and entrance to the Meadowlands Sports Complex before it crosses Berrys Creek.

Upon crossing the creek, Route 120 continues northwest through more commercial and industrial development, intersecting with Murray Hill Parkway towards East Rutherford and 20th Street towards Carlstadt.

After crossing the Passaic River into Bergen County, the road is called Paterson Avenue in Wallington, and heads east through a residential and low-density commercial area.

At the end of Wallington, Paterson Avenue is the border between Carlstadt and East Rutherford for a short distance but then the road dips into East Rutherford to avoid a hill (the bypass, which goes over the hill, is called Hoboken Road).

6, approved September 9, 1997, the New Jersey Legislature designated Route 120 in East Rutherford, where it runs through the Meadowlands Sports Complex, as the Larry Doby Highway.

Former Paterson resident Larry Doby, a professional baseball player with the Newark Eagles of the Negro leagues, later played in the Cleveland Indians and was the first African American to break the color barrier in the American League.