M-53 (Michigan highway)

M-53
M-53 highlighted in red
Route information
Maintained by MDOT
Length	120.980 mi[1] (194.698 km)
Existed	c. July 1, 1919[2]–present
Major junctions
South end	M-3 in Detroit
Major intersections	I-94 in Detroit M-102 at Detroit–Warren I-696 at Center Line-Warren M-59 in Utica I-69 near Imlay City M-90 in Burnside M-46 near Kingston M-81 near Cass City M-142 in Bad Axe
North end	M-25 in Port Austin
Location
Country	United States
State	Michigan
Counties	Wayne, Macomb, Lapeer, Sanilac, Huron
Highway system
Michigan State Trunkline Highway System Interstate US State Byways
← M-52 → M-54

M-53 is a north–south state trunkline highway in the US state of Michigan that connects Detroit to The Thumb region. The highway starts in Detroit at a connection with M-3 and ends in Port Austin, Michigan at M-25. In between, the trunkline passes through the northern suburbs of Metro Detroit, connects to freeways like Interstate 69 (I-69) and provides access to rural farmland. In Macomb County, M-53 follows the Christopher Columbus Freeway and POW/MIA Memorial Freeway, while the remainder of the highway is known as Van Dyke Avenue in the metro area or Van Dyke Road elsewhere. The highway has also been named the Earle Memorial Highway for one of the pioneers of the Good Roads Movement and Michigan's highway system.

When the first state highways were signed in the field in 1919, M-53 was one of them, running from Detroit to Elkton. In the 1920s, the highway was extended northward to connect with Port Austin. Later improvements through 1940 realigned a section of the roadway near Imlay City and completed paving. With planning and construction during the 1950s and 1960s, the state converted portions of the road north of Detroit to have divided highway and freeway segments. The freeway bypass of Romeo was started in the 1990s and finished to its current state in 2003.