page_title: Roosevelt Boulevard (Philadelphia)
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: Roosevelt Boulevard (Philadelphia) / History
caption_attribution_description: Northbound U.S. Route 1 (Roosevelt Boulevard) past the intersection with the southern terminus of Pennsylvania Route 532 (Welsh Road) in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
context_page_description: Roosevelt Boulevard, officially named the Theodore Roosevelt Memorial Boulevard and often referred to, chiefly by local Philadelphians, simply as "the Boulevard," is a major traffic artery through North and Northeast Philadelphia. The road begins at the Schuylkill Expressway in Fairmount Park, running as a freeway also known as the Roosevelt Boulevard Extension or the Roosevelt Expressway through North Philadelphia, then transitioning into a twelve-lane divided highway that forms the spine of Northeast Philadelphia to its end at the city line.
  Historically, Roosevelt Boulevard is a part of the Lincoln Highway, the first road across America, which ran for 3,389 miles from Times Square in New York City to Lincoln Park on the Pacific Ocean in San Francisco, California.
  Today, Roosevelt Boulevard is designated as US 1, US 13, and Pennsylvania Route 63.
  The road is notorious for two intersections which have been designated the second and third most dangerous intersections in the country by State Farm Insurance, at Red Lion Road and Grant Avenue respectively. The dangerous reputation of the road led to installation of the first red light cameras in Philadelphia in 2004.
context_section_description: Proposed in 1903 by Mayor Samuel H. Ashbridge as part of the City Beautiful movement, the 300-foot-wide thoroughfare originally extended from Broad Street to the Torresdale neighborhood, and was first named Torresdale Boulevard, then Northeast Boulevard in 1914 when the road was completed.  On its extension to Pennypack Creek in 1918, it was finally renamed to Roosevelt Boulevard, in honor of Theodore Roosevelt. The road was designated U.S. 1 in 1926, and was extended through Philadelphia to neighboring Bucks County in the post-World War II years.
  The Roosevelt Expressway was built to connect the boulevard with the nearby Schuylkill Expressway (I-76).
  In 1998 a series of gang-related criminal rock throwing attacks on cars driving near Ridge Avenue, Henry Avenue and Fox Street "terrorized" Philadelphia drivers.
  In 2000, by act of the state legislature, the Boulevard was designated the "Police Officer Daniel Faulkner Memorial Highway" in memory of Daniel Faulkner, a Philadelphia police officer whom Mumia Abu-Jamal was convicted of having slain in the line of duty in 1981. The designation is alongside the roadway's official name of Roosevelt Boulevard.
  There have been several plans to change the boulevard into an expressway-like artery, like the Roosevelt Expressway itself, and construct a subway underneath the boulevard, but no such plans have been acted upon.
  Today, Roosevelt Boulevard is among the most congested arteries in the country.  According to a 2001 report by State Farm Insurance, the second- and third-worst intersections in the country are both found on the Boulevard, at Red Lion Road and Grant Avenue, respectively, only a mile apart from each other. Red light cameras have been installed at these intersections, as well as Cottman Avenue, and have been operational since June 1, 2005.  New cameras installed at the intersections with 9th Street, Mascher Street, Levick Street, Rhawn Street, Welsh Road, and Southampton Road became operational in summer 2007. Additional plans include adding cameras at Devereaux Avenue and Tyson Avenue. On June 1, 2020, speed cameras were activated along Roosevelt Boulevard, with a 60-day warning period before fines are issued.
caption: Roosevelt Boulevard (US 1) northbound past Welsh Road
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