Roscoe Boulevard

Roscoe Boulevard

Roscoe Boulevard in Northridge
Namesake	a Southern Pacific employee named Roscoe or Roscoe Conkling or something else[1]
Maintained by	Bureau of Street Services, Los Angeles Department of Water and Power
Length	18 mi (29 km)
Nearest metro station	Roscoe
West end	Valley Circle Boulevard in West Hills
Major junctions	SR 27 I-405 SR 170 Gaps in route I-5
East end	Verdugo Mountains in Sun Valley

Roscoe Boulevard is a major east–west arterial road that runs for 18 miles (29 km) across the San Fernando Valley in Los Angeles, California.

There are two theories as to how Roscoe Boulevard got its name. The first is that it is named after a Southern Pacific 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 Roscoe Conkling, who had recently represented Southern Pacific in Santa Clara County v. Southern Pacific Railroad Co.. It is also possible that both theories are incorrect.^[1]

Roscoe Boulevard travels east–west across almost the entire San Fernando Valley, and has four lanes or more for almost its entire length. The street is arterial for most of its length, but it is residential for two short sections in Sun Valley, these sections separated by a 0.7 miles (1.1 km) gap from the rest of the street and a 0.1 miles (0.16 km) gap from each other.

Metro Local Line 152 runs along Roscoe Boulevard^[2] and the G Line's Roscoe station is located at Roscoe and Canoga Avenue in Canoga Park.^[3]

The East San Fernando Valley Light Rail Transit Project plans to have a stop at Roscoe and Van Nuys Boulevard in Panorama City.^[4]

Roscoe Boulevard is a major contributor to the North San Fernando Valley Transit Corridor.^[5] In 2019, Bus Rapid Transit was proposed on the Panorama City/arterial Sun Valley portion of the street,^[6] but it was blocked by local residents.^[7]

From west to east, Roscoe Boulevard travels from West Hills, through Canoga Park, Winnetka, Northridge, Van Nuys, and into Sun Valley.

Notable landmarks on Roscoe include (from west to east): Roscoe-Valley Circle Park, Orcutt Ranch Horticulture Center, Northridge Hospital Medical Center, Van Nuys Airport, a Budweiser brewery, Panorama City Branch Library, Kaiser Permanente Panorama City Medical Center, Panorama City Branch Library, Wat Thai of Los Angeles, and Verdugo Mountain Park. Busch Gardens 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, Byrd Middle School, and John H. Francis Polytechnic High School.