New Jersey Route 53

Route 53
Route information
Maintained by NJDOT
Length	4.66 mi[1] (7.50 km)
Existed	January 1, 1953[2]–present
Major junctions
South end	US 202 in Morris Plains
Major intersections	Route 10 in Parsippany-Troy Hills Township I-80 in Denville Township
North end	US 46 in Denville Township
Location
Country	United States
State	New Jersey
Counties	Morris
Highway system
New Jersey State Highway Routes Interstate US State Scenic Byways
← Route 52 → Route 54
← Route 177 → Route 179

Route 53 is a state highway in Morris County in the U.S. state of New Jersey. It runs 4.66 mi (7.50 km) from U.S. Route 202 in Morris Plains north to U.S. Route 46 in Denville Township. The route, which is a two-lane undivided highway most of its length, intersects with Route 10 and Interstate 80. For most of its length, the route runs a short distance to the east of New Jersey Transit's Morristown Line. It passes through industrial areas and wooded residential neighborhoods along its route.

From 1916 to 1927, the route was a part of pre-1927 Route 5, which ran from Delaware in Warren County east to Newark. In 1927, the portion of pre-1927 Route 5 that is today Route 53 was not made a part of a different route and became Route 5N to distinguish it from a newly created Route 5. In 1953, the route became Route 53. A freeway was planned for the route in 1966, running from a planned Route 24 freeway in Morris Plains north to a planned Route 208 freeway in Greenwood Lake in Passaic County. This planned freeway was scaled back in 1967 to end at Interstate 80. It was later designated Route 178 before being canceled in 1975.