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. Route description Starting at the intersection between Van Dyke Avenue and M-3 (Gratiot Avenue), M-53 runs north-northwesterly along Van Dyke in the city of Detroit. The four-lane roadway passes through residential neighborhoods on the city's east side. About a half mile (0.8 km) north of its start, M-53 meets I-94 at the latter's exit 218. On the opposite side of the freeway interchange, Van Dyke Avenue turns due north and continues through a mix of residential and industrial areas near Coleman A. Young International Airport. In this area, the highway crosses branch lines for both the Conrail Shared Assets Operations and the Canadian National Railway. M-53 continues northward through residential areas north of 6 Mile Road and crosses from Detroit into Warren at the junction with 8 Mile Road; that road also marks the Wayne–Macomb county line. The highway passes through the middle of Center Line, an enclave surrounded by Warren. On the northern edge of Center Line, M-53 meets exit 23 along I-696, the Walter Reuther Freeway. North of this interchange, Van Dyke Avenue crosses back into Warren and continues northward. The highway