U.S. Route 53 in Wisconsin
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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| U.S. Highway 53 |
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| Maintained by WisDOT | |||||||||||||
| Formed: | 1926 | ||||||||||||
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| South end: |  at La Crosse |
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| Major junctions: |
 I-90 in La Crosse I-94 in Eau Claire US 8 in Cameron US 2 in Superior |
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| North end: | Minnesota border in Superior | ||||||||||||
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In the U.S. state of Wisconsin, U.S. Route 53 (normally called U.S. Highway 53, Highway 53 or US 53) runs north-south across the western part of the state.
The highway begins at its southern terminus at US 14, US 61 and WIS 16 in downtown La Crosse. From there, it crosses Interstate 90 and becomes a freeway bypass of Onalaska and Holmen before proceeding north to Eau Claire as a two-lane road. The interchange with Interstate 94 begins a freeway/expressway stretch for the route north to and through Superior and into Minnesota. The recently built (ca. 2006) freeway in Eau Claire, bypasses most of the city, alleviating congestion on the original route (signed as both "Business US-53" and "Hastings Way"). Hastings Way/Business US-53, a mix of grade-separated interchanges and at-grade intersections, is routed through Eau Claire, passing within about 1 mile of downtown. Wisconsin's first single-point urban interchange is found along the new bypass, at the interchange with US-12, in Altoona.[1]
US 53 continues as a freeway north of Eau Claire past Chippewa Falls to Rice Lake where it becomes an expressway with only two grade-separated interchanges (one at WIS 70 near Spooner, WI and one at WIS 13 southeast of Superior). A partial grade-separated interchange also exists at US 2 but traffic turning onto US 2 east must take a U-turn at an at-grade crossover past the interchange.
In Superior, US 53 runs together with Interstate 535 and crosses the St. Louis River via the John A. Blatnik Bridge into Minnesota.
[edit] Interchanges
| County | Location | Mile | # | Destinations | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
End Freeway -  continues as 2-lane road |
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| Eau Claire | Eau Claire | 84A |  I-94 East - Madison |
Exit number not marked on northbound lanes |
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| 84B |  I-94 West - St. Paul |
Exit number not marked on northbound lanes |
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| 85 |  CTH AA - Golf Rd |
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| 86 |    WIS 93, Business US 53 - Hastings Way |
Northbound signage | |||
 WIS 93 South - La Crosse |
Southbound signage | ||||
| 87 |  US 12 - Clairemont Ave. (Altoona) |
Wisconsin's only SPUI | |||
| 89 | River Prairie Dr. (Altoona), Birch St. (Eau Claire) | ||||
| 90 |     WIS 312, CTH Q - North Crossing |
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| Chippewa | Lake Hallie | 92 | Melby St | ||
| 94 |   WIS 124, CTH OO, Business US 53 - Lake Hallie |
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| 95A-B |  WIS 29 - Menomonie, Green Bay |
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| Chippewa Falls | 96 | Business WIS 29 - Menomonie, Chippewa Falls |
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| 99 |  CTH S - Chippewa Falls, Jim Falls |
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| Tilden | 102 |  CTH B CTH B - Tilden |
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| Bloomer | 110 |  WIS 40 - Bloomer, Colfax |
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| 112 |  WIS 64 - Cornell, New Richmond |
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| New Auburn | 118 |  CTH M - New Auburn |
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| Barron | Chetek | 126 |  CTH I - Chetek |
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| Cameron | 135 | US 8 - Barron, Cameron |
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| Rice Lake | 140 |  CTH O - Rice Lake |
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| 143 |  WIS 48 - Rice Lake, Cumberland |
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Freeway ends - continues as expressway with one diamond at  and one at  |
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[edit] References
- ^ Chris Bessert. Wisconsin Highways - Highway 53 2006, URL accessed 2006 December 31
| Preceded by none |
U.S. Route 53 Wisconsin |
Succeeded by Minnesota |
