Indiana State Road 53

State Road 53
Broadway
Route information
Maintained by INDOT
Length:	14.07 mi[1] (22.64 km)
Major junctions
South end:	US 231 in Crown Point
	US 30 in Merrillville, I-80 / I-94 / US 6 Borman Expressway in Gary, US 12 / US 20 in Gary,
North end:	I-90 / Indiana Toll Road in Gary
Location
Counties:	Lake
Highway system
Indiana State Roads Interstate US State Former ← US 52 SR 54 →

State Road 53 (SR 53) is a part of the Indiana State Road that runs between Crown Point and Gary in the US state of Indiana. The 14.07 miles (22.64 km) of SR 53 that lie within Indiana is also known as Broadway. None of the highway is listed on the National Highway System. Most of the road is an urban four-lane undivided highway, passing through residential and commercial properties.

Route description

Looking north on State Road 53 in the Glen Park neighborhood of Gary.

SR 53 heads north from the southern terminus a U.S. Route 231 (US 231), concurrent with Broadway. The road is two-lane highway passing through a farmland with residential house. The highway becomes a four-lane divided highway, still passing through a mix of farmland and residential, at 93rd Avenue. As the route enters Merrillville the farmland and residential turns into commercial properties. In Merrillville the road has a traffic light at US 30 . North of US 30 the road becomes a for-lane undivided highway with a center turn lane as it passes through commercial properties. At 73rd Street the route begins to enter a more residential area with few commercial properties. The highway crosses a set of railroad tracks on the north side of Merrillville. North of Merrillville the road enters Gary and passes through a mix of residential and commercial properties, staying as a four-lane undivided highway with a center turn lane. The road crosses a signal railroad track and has a traffic light at Ridge Road (old US 6). North of 33rd Avenue the road becomes a four-lane undivided highway without a center turn lane, as the road passes through a mostly wooded area. The route has an interchange with Borman Expressway (Interstate 80 (I–80) and I–94). The highway heads north towards downtown Gary passing three single track railroad crossings. In downtown Gary the route has an intersection with the one-way streets of Fifth Avenue, eastbound US 12/US 20 and Fourth Avenue, westbound US 12/US 20. North of Fourth Avenue the road passes under the Shore Shore line, a Commuter rail line. After passing the South Shore line the highway has an interchange with the I–90/Indiana Toll Road. This interchange is the north terminus of SR 53, but Broadway continues north passing under three sets of railroad tacks. Broadway ends at a security gate for the main entrance of Gary Works owned by U.S. Steel.^[2][3][4]

No part of SR 53 is included as a part of the National Highway System (NHS).^[5] The NHS is a network of highways that are identified as being most important for the economy, mobility and defense of the nation.^[6] The highway is maintained by the Indiana Department of Transportation (INDOT) like all other state roads in the state. The department tracks the traffic volumes along all state highways as a part of its maintenance responsibilities using a metric called average annual daily traffic (AADT). This measurement is a calculation of the traffic level along a segment of roadway for any average day of the year. In 2010, INDOT figured that lowest traffic levels were the 10,470 vehicles and 490 commercial vehicles used the highway daily on a section between US 231 and 113th Avenue south of Merrillville. The peak traffic volumes were 29,200 vehicles and 1,460 commercial vehicles AADT along a section of SR 53 between 35th Avenue and Borman Expressway in Gary.^[7]

Major intersections

The entire route is in Lake County.

Location	mi[1]	km	Destinations	Notes
Center Township	0.00	0.00	US 231 – Crown Point, Lafayette	Southern terminus of SR 51
Merrillville	4.85	7.81	US 30 / Lincoln Highway – Valparaiso, Fort Wayne, Chicago
Gary	11.48	18.48	I-80 / I-94 / US 6 – South Bend, Michigan City, Chicago	Exit number 10 on I-80/I-94
	13.88	22.34	US 12 / US 20 – East Chicago, Michigan City
	14.07	22.64	I-90 / Indiana Toll Road – South Bend, Gary Works, Chicago	Northern terminus of SR 51
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi

See also

• U.S. Roads portal
• Indiana portal

References

1. Staff (2004). "Reference Post Book" (PDF). Indianapolis: Indiana Department of Transportation. S-53. Retrieved December 18, 2012.
2. Google (September 15, 2012). "Indiana State Road 53" (Map). Google Maps. Google. Retrieved September 15, 2012.
3. Indiana Department of Transportation (2012). Indiana Transportation Map (PDF) (Map) (2011–12 ed.). Indianapolis: Indiana Department of Transportation. Retrieved September 15, 2012.
4. Indiana Department of Transportation (2011). Indiana Railroad Map (PDF) (Map). Indianapolis: Indiana Department of Transportation. Retrieved September 15, 2012.
5. Federal Highway Administration (December 2003). National Highway System: Indiana (PDF) (Map). Washington, DC: Federal Highway Administration. Retrieved September 15, 2012.
6. Natzke, Stefan; Neathery, Mike; Adderly, Kevin (September 26, 2012). "What is the National Highway System?". National Highway System. Federal Highway Administration. Retrieved September 15, 2012.
7. Staff (2010). "Indiana Traffic Counts". Indianapolis: Indiana Department of Transportation. Retrieved September 15, 2012.

External links

Route map: Bing / Google