Rosecrans Avenue is a major west-east

thoroughfare A thoroughfare is a primary passage or way of transport, whether by road on dry land or, by extension, via watercraft or aircraft. Originally, the word referred to a main road or open street which was frequented thoroughly. Different terms *Roa ...

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, ...

and Orange Counties, California, USA. It has a total length of . The street is named after U.S. Union General William S. Rosecrans, who purchased of Rancho Sausal Redondo southwest of Los Angeles in 1869. Rosecrans Avenue was originally named Drexel Avenue, and ran through the Rosecrans Rancho which is part of modern-day Gardena.

Route description

Rosecrans Avenue begins at the beach near El Porto in Manhattan Beach. On its route, it crosses through Manhattan Beach, El Segundo (northside of street only), Hawthorne, Lawndale, Gardena, Harbor Gateway, Willowbrook, Compton, East Rancho Dominguez,

Paramount Paramount (from the word ''paramount'' meaning "above all others") may refer to: Entertainment and music companies * Paramount Global, also known simply as Paramount, an American mass media company formerly known as ViacomCBS. **Paramount Picture ...

, Downey (for one block between Century Blvd and Lakewood Blvd/ SR-19), Bellflower, Norwalk,

Santa Fe Springs Santa Fe Springs (''Santa Fe'', Spanish for "Holy Faith") is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. It is one of the Gateway Cities of southeast Los Angeles County. The population was 19,219 at the 2020 census, up from 16,22 ...

, La Mirada, Buena Park (southside of street only; Fullerton and La Mirada connect on the northside near Beach Blvd/ SR-39), and Fullerton where the road ends at Euclid Street (eastern terminus). It intersects the 405, 110, 710, 605, and 5 freeways (all Interstates). Rosecrans is mostly a straight road until the intersection with Clark Avenue in Bellflower and again at Valley View Avenue in La Mirada when it starts to curve through the West Coyote Hills. Rosecrans enters the cities of Fullerton and Buena Park crossing into Orange County after the intersection with Beach Boulevard. Rosecrans Avenue enters Buena Park approaching Ralph B. Clark Regional Park before entering Fullerton halfway the park (no signs indicate where La Mirada ends and Buena Park begins/ends; there is one for where Fullerton begins on the southside of street). From Lakewood Boulevard in Downey/Bellflower to Valley View Avenue in Santa Fe Springs/La Mirada, Rosecrans is about one mile south of, and runs parallel to Imperial Highway. Rosecrans at Maquardt Avenue in Santa Fe Springs has been considered the most hazardous railroad grade crossing in California because from 2013 to 2019 there were 31 accidents and 6 deaths and as a result an overpass that will take Rosecrans Avenue up over the train tracks is now under construction and will be completed in 2025.

BNSF BNSF Railway is the largest freight railroad in the United States. One of six North American Class I railroads, BNSF has 36,000 employees, of track in 28 states, and over 8,000 locomotives. It has three transcontinental routes that provide ...

Amtrak The National Railroad Passenger Corporation, Trade name, doing business as Amtrak (; ), is the national Passenger train, passenger railroad company of the United States. It operates intercity rail service in 46 of the 48 contiguous United Stat ...

Pacific Surfliner The ''Pacific Surfliner'' is a passenger train service serving the communities on the coast of Southern California between San Diego and San Luis Obispo. The ''Pacific Surfliner'' is Amtrak's third-busiest service (exceeded in ridership only ...

and

Southwest Chief The ''Southwest Chief'' (formerly the ''Southwest Limited'' and ''Super Chief'') is a Amtrak Long Distance, long-distance passenger train operated by Amtrak on a route between Chicago and Los Angeles through the Midwest and American Southwest ...

, and Metrolink's Orange County and 91 lines run towards that crossing.

Termini

*Western terminus, The Strand in Manhattan Beach: *Eastern terminus, Euclid Street in Fullerton:

Transportation

Beach Cities Transit line 109 (between Highland Avenue and Sepulveda Boulevard),

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 125 (between Sepulveda Boulevard and Norwalk Station) and Norwalk Transit line 5 (east of Norwalk Station) operate on Rosecrans Avenue. The Metro J Line Rosecrans/I-110 station on the Harbor Transitway is located on Interstate 110 below Rosecrans Avenue. At Douglas Street, the Metro K Line serves a station.

In popular culture

Rosecrans Avenue is well known among

hip hop Hip-hop or hip hop (originally disco rap) is a popular music genre that emerged in the early 1970s from the African-American community of New York City. The style is characterized by its synthesis of a wide range of musical techniques. Hip- ...

culture for its reputation for violence and crime. The street is mentioned by

Tupac Shakur Tupac Amaru Shakur (; born Lesane Parish Crooks; June 16, 1971 – September 13, 1996), also known by his stage names 2Pac and Makaveli, was an American rapper and actor, regarded as one of the greatest and most influential rappers of all tim ...

in "

California Love "California Love" is a song by American rapper 2Pac featuring fellow American rapper Dr. Dre. The song was released December 3, 1995, as 2Pac's comeback single after his release from prison in 1995 and was his first single as the newest artist ...

", as well as "Genocide" and “ETA” by

Dr. Dre Andre Romell Young (born February 18, 1965), known professionally as Dr. Dre, is an American rapper, record producer, record executive, and actor. He is the founder and CEO of Aftermath Entertainment and Beats Electronics, and co-founder of ...

. Compton native

Kendrick Lamar Kendrick Lamar Duckworth (born June 17, 1987) is an American rapper, singer, songwriter and record producer. Regarded as one of the greatest rappers of all time, he was awarded the 2018 Pulitzer Prize for Music, becoming the first music ...

mentions the thoroughfare in numerous songs on his albums '' good kid, m.A.A.d city'' and ''GNX''. '' Rosecrans'' is an album by DJ Quik and

Problem Problem solving is the process of achieving a goal by overcoming obstacles, a frequent part of most activities. Problems in need of solutions range from simple personal tasks (e.g. how to turn on an appliance) to complex issues in business an ...

named after Rosecrans Avenue.

References

{{Streets in Los Angeles Streets in Los Angeles County, California Streets in Orange County, California Avenue Bellflower, California Buena Park, California Compton, California Downey, California El Segundo, California Transportation in Fullerton, California Gardena, California Hawthorne, California La Mirada, California Lawndale, California Streets in Los Angeles Manhattan Beach, California Norwalk, California Paramount, California Santa Fe Springs, California Willowbrook, California