South Dakota Highway 53

Highway 53
Highway 53
	Map SD 53
Route information
	Defined by SDCL §31-4-172
	Maintained by SDDOT
Length	73.654 mi (118.535 km)
Existed	1926–present
Major junctions
South end	293rd Street southwest of Clearfield
	US 18 from west of Jordan Junction to Jordan Junction; US 183 from Jordan Junction to east of Witten; SD 44 from east of Witten to northwest of Mosher;
North end	I-90 / US 83 southwest of Vivian
Location
Country	United States
State	South Dakota
Counties	Tripp, Mellette, Lyman
Highway system
	South Dakota State Trunk Highway System; Interstate; US; State;

South Dakota Highway 53 (SD 53) is a state route that runs south to north across south-central South Dakota. It begins in rural Tripp County, southwest of Clearfield, and travels north-northwest to a diamond interchange with Interstate 90 (I-90) and U.S. Route 83 (US 83) southwest of Vivian. Along the way, it spends about 25 miles (40 km) running concurrent with US 18, US 183, and SD 44.

History

South Dakota 53 in 1926 ran from the North Dakota to Nebraska borders. By 1929, when U.S. Highway 83 was first designated, it replaced the segment of SD 53 from Pierre to the North Dakota border. The southern segment was further east than the present route, running from Presho south to the Nebraska border via Winner.

In the early 1930s, U.S. 83 was extended south into Nebraska, and was placed as dual signage along SD 53. (The original route was on what is now U.S. Highway 183; 83 and 183 were reversed from current alignments when first designated.) By 1935, SD 53 was removed from this alignment and placed on a new route extending south from Vivian, on a previously unnumbered road. The southern terminus was at South Dakota Highway 40 (now 44). Also at this time, the northern terminus was pulled back to Vivian.

In the late 1960s, a second segment of SD 53 was added further south, beginning at U.S. Highway 18 just west of the U.S. 183 junction, and extending south to Clearfield. At some point, SD 53 was signed along the concurrent routes US 18, US 183, and SD 44 to connect the two segments of the highway.

Major intersections

County	Location	mi^[1]	km	Destinations	Notes
Tripp		0.000	0.000	293rd Street	Roadway continues south as 306th Avenue
		15.972	25.704	US 18 west – Mission	Western end of US 18 concurrency
	Jordan Junction	16.972	27.314	US 18 east / US 183 south / SD 44 east – Winner	Eastern end of US 18 concurrency; southern end of US 183 concurrency; eastern end of SD 44 concurrency
		20.965	33.740	US 183 north – Presho	Northern end of US 183 concurrency
Mellette		40.738	65.561	SD 44 west	Western end of SD 44 concurrency
Lyman		73.654	118.535	I-90 / US 83	Diamond interchange
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi Concurrency terminus