Roscoe Boulevard is a major east–west

arterial road An arterial road or arterial thoroughfare is a high-capacity urban road that sits below highway A highway is any public or private road or other public way on land. It includes not just major roads, but also other public roads and rights o ...

that runs for across the

San Fernando Valley The San Fernando Valley, known locally as the Valley, is an urbanized valley in Los Angeles County, Los Angeles County, California. Situated to the north of the Los Angeles Basin, it comprises a large portion of Los Angeles, the Municipal corpo ...

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

Name

There are two theories as to how Roscoe Boulevard got its name. The first is that it is named after a

Southern Pacific The Southern Pacific (or Espee from the railroad initials) was an American Class I railroad network that existed from 1865 to 1996 and operated largely in the Western United States. The system was operated by various companies under the names ...

employee named Roscoe who regularly asked to get off near his girlfriend's house on the street. The second is that it is named after ex-

Senator A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or Legislative chamber, chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the Ancient Rome, ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior ...

Roscoe Conkling Roscoe Conkling (October 30, 1829April 18, 1888) was an American lawyer and Republican Party (United States), Republican politician who represented New York (state), New York in the United States House of Representatives and the United States Se ...

, who had recently represented Southern Pacific in Santa Clara County v. Southern Pacific Railroad Co.. It is also possible that both theories are incorrect.

Route

Roscoe Boulevard travels east–west across almost the entire

. From west to east, the boulevard travels from West Hills, through

Canoga Park Canoga Park is a neighborhood in the San Fernando Valley region of the City of Los Angeles, California. Before the Mexican–American War, the district was part of a rancho, and after the American victory it was converted into wheat farms and ...

, Winnetka, Northridge,

Van Nuys Van Nuys ( ) is a neighborhood in the central San Fernando Valley region of Los Angeles, California. Home to Van Nuys Airport and the Valley Municipal Building, it is the most populous neighborhood in the San Fernando Valley. History In 1 ...

, North Hills,

Panorama City Panorama City is a neighborhood in the city of Los Angeles, California, in the San Fernando Valley. It has a generally young age range as well as the highest population density in the Valley. More than half of the neighborhood's population was b ...

and into Sun Valley. Slightly west of

Lankershim Boulevard Lankershim Boulevard is a major north-south arterial road the runs for in the eastern San Fernando Valley in the Los Angeles, California. Geography Lankershim Boulevard's northern terminus is at San Fernando Road in Sun Valley, Los Angele ...

, the main segment of the street changes to Tuxford Street, which later changes to La Tuna Canyon Boulevard east of Glenoaks Boulevard. Roscoe Boulevard has four lanes or more for almost its entire length and is

arterial An artery () is a blood vessel in humans and most other animals that takes oxygenated blood away from the heart in the systemic circulation to one or more parts of the body. Exceptions that carry deoxygenated blood are the pulmonary arteries in ...

for most of its length, but is residential for two short sections in Sun Valley, these sections separated by a gap from the rest of the street and a gap from each other.

Transit

Metro Local The Los Angeles Metro Bus is the transit bus service in Los Angeles County, California, operated by the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (Metro). Metro Bus operates in the Los Angeles Basin, the San Fernando Valley, and th ...

Line 152 runs along Roscoe Boulevard and the G Line's Roscoe station is located at Roscoe and Canoga Avenue in

. The East San Fernando Valley Light Rail Transit Project plans to have a stop at Roscoe and

Van Nuys Boulevard Van Nuys Boulevard is a major north–south arterial road that runs through the central San Fernando Valley of Los Angeles County, California. The boulevard was notable for its Cruising (driving), cruising lifestyle that was prevalent in the 1 ...

. Roscoe Boulevard is a major contributor to the North San Fernando Valley Transit Corridor. In 2019, Bus Rapid Transit was proposed on the

Sun Valley portion of the street, but it was blocked by local residents.

Notable landmarks

Notable landmarks on Roscoe include (from west to east): Roscoe-Valley Circle Park,

Orcutt Ranch Horticulture Center The Orcutt Ranch Horticulture Center, formally known as Rancho Sombra del Roble, is a Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monument (HCM #31) located in the West Hills, Los Angeles, California, West Hills section of Los Angeles, California, United State ...

, Northridge Hospital Medical Center,

Van Nuys Airport Van Nuys Airport is a public airport in the Van Nuys neighborhood of the City of Los Angeles. The airport is operated by Los Angeles World Airports (LAWA), a branch of the Los Angeles city government, which also operates Los Angeles Internat ...

, a

Budweiser Budweiser () is an American-style pale lager, a brand of Belgian company AB InBev. Introduced in 1876 by Carl Conrad & Co. of St. Louis, Missouri, Budweiser has become a large selling beer company in the United States. Budweiser is a filte ...

brewery, Panorama City Branch Library,

Kaiser Permanente Kaiser Permanente (; KP) is an American integrated delivery system, integrated managed care consortium headquartered in Oakland, California. Founded in 1945 by industrialist Henry J. Kaiser and physician Sidney Garfield, Sidney R. Garfield, the ...

Panorama City Medical Center, Wat Thai of Los Angeles, and

Verdugo Mountain Park Verdugo may refer to: * Verdugo (river), a river in Pontevedra, Galicia, Spain * Verdugo (surname) * Verdugo Mountains, a mountain range in California, United States * Verdugo Park, a park in California, United States * Verdugo Wash, a river in Cal ...

Busch Gardens Busch Gardens is the name of two amusement parks in the United States, owned and operated by United Parks & Resorts. The original park is in Tampa, Florida, and the second park is in Williamsburg, Virginia. There were also previously Busch G ...

was formerly on Roscoe Boulevard as well. Schools on Roscoe include (from west to east): Winnetka Avenue Elementary School, Cleveland High School, Valley International Preparatory High School, Noble Avenue Elementary School, Vista Middle School, St. Genevieve High School,

The Master's Seminary The Master's Seminary (TMS) is the graduate seminary division of The Master's University and Seminary and is located on the campus of Grace Community Church in Sun Valley, California. It is accredited by the WASC Senior College and Universit ...

, Byrd Middle School, and

John H. Francis Polytechnic High School John H. Francis Polytechnic High School is a secondary school located in the Sun Valley neighborhood of Los Angeles, California, United States. It serves grades 9 through 12 and is a part of the Los Angeles Unified School District. Despite its n ...

References

{{Streets in Los Angeles Streets in the San Fernando Valley Streets in Los Angeles Streets in Los Angeles County, California Canoga Park, Los Angeles Winnetka, Los Angeles Northridge, Los Angeles Van Nuys, Los Angeles Sun Valley, Los Angeles Panorama City, Los Angeles