San Fernando Road - Overview

Overview

The portion between Sun Valley and the city of Burbank is mostly industrial, with heavy truck traffic thorough this area. San Fernando Road passes next to Bob Hope Airport and through downtown Burbank. Upon entering the Burbank city limits, it is signed as San Fernando Boulevard. At the intersection with Cypress Avenue in the Media City Center, there is a brief interruption in the route. 1st Street and Magnolia Boulevard connect both portions of San Fernando Boulevard. The road becomes San Fernando Road once it enters the city of Glendale. When entering Glendale it serves as a major street for West and South Glendale. From the intersection with the Ventura Freeway (SR 134) to its southern terminus, it closely follows the Los Angeles River through the Atwater Village and Glassell Park neighborhoods. North of Figueroa Street San Fernando Road splits with Avenue 26, and San Fernando Road ends at Pasadena Avenue, where it becomes Avenue 20, and it finally ends at Main Street, northeast of Downtown Los Angeles.

There is another San Fernando Road entirely within the city of Santa Clarita starting only 2½ miles north of the northern end of the original San Fernando Road. San Fernando Road in Santa Clarita has now been renamed and split into 3 different streets from south to north Newhall Ave, Main Street, and Railroad Ave. At times, the route carried SR 126.

San Fernando Road should also not be confused with the nearby San Fernando Mission Blvd. The two roads intersect in the City of San Fernando about a mile from the San Fernando Mission.

The Southern Pacific Railroad follows both portions of San Fernando Road for their entire routes.

Prior to the construction of Interstate 5, San Fernando Road was old U.S. Route 99 (see sign to the left) and U.S. Route 6, and with the completion of the Golden State Freeway, it was re-signed as State Route 163 in the 1960s and Business Interstate 5 in the 1970s, although Los Angeles did a poor job in maintaining business routes (see Ventura Boulevard). Today, San Fernando Road is used as an alternative to the congested 5 Freeway between Lincoln Heights and the Newhall Pass, due to the relatively few traffic signals on the route.