Idaho State Highway 53

State Highway 53 (SH-53) is a 14.240-mile-long (22.917 km) state highway serving Kootenai County in the U.S. state of Idaho. SH-53 travels northeast from Washington State Route 290 (SR 290) at the Washington state border near Hauser to a short concurrency with SH-41 in Rathdrum. From Rathdrum, the highway continues east to end at U.S. Route 95 (US-95) north of Hayden. The Hauser to Rathdrum segment first appeared on a map in 1926, while the continuation of the route to the Hayden area appeared in 1937, completing an unnumbered state highway. SH-53 was designated in 1953 after all unnumbered state highways were assigned numbers.

State Highway 53
SH-53 highlighted in red
Route information
Maintained by ITD
Length	14.240 mi[1] (22.917 km)
Existed	1953[2]–present
Major junctions
West end	SR 290 at Washington state border
	SH-41 in Rathdrum
East end	US 95 near Hayden
Location
Counties	Kootenai
Highway system
State Highways in Idaho Interstate U.S. State ← SH-52 → SH-54

Route description

SH-53 begins at the Washington state border southwest of Hauser at the eastern terminus of Washington State Route 290, which serves Spokane, Washington. Trent Road travels northeast, paralleling the Spokane International branch of the Union Pacific Railroad,[3] through farmland and several small suburban communities towards Rathdrum. The highway serves the northern area of the city, passing strip malls and businesses, to an intersection with SH-41. At the intersection, SH-53 turns southeast and begins a short concurrency with SH-41 to cross the railroad via an overpass. The highway splits from SH-41 near Lakeland High School and travels due east through a commercial district.[4] From the commercial district, the roadway travels towards farmland and sharply turns north before cutting back southeast over a UPRR railroad line. After the overpass, SH-53 ends at a signalized intersection with US-95 north of Hayden.[5] The Idaho Transportation Department has plans to straighten the east end of the highway and replace the signalized intersection with an interchange by the end of 2020.[6]

History

SH-53 first appeared as a roadway from Hauser to Rathdrum in a 1926 map of Idaho.[7] By 1937, the road was extended east to US-95 north of Hayden and became an unnumbered state highway.[8] The highway was officially designated as SH-53 after a meeting of the Idaho Board of Highway Directors on July 25, 1953 that approved a number for all unnumbered state highways.[2][9]

Major intersections

The entire route is in Kootenai County.

Location	mi[1]	km	Destinations	Notes
​	0.000	0.000	SR 290 west (Trent Avenue) – Spokane	Washington state border
Rathdrum	9.460	15.224	SH-41 north – Oldtown	West end of SH-41 overlap
	9.660	15.546	SH-41 south – Post Falls	East end of SH-41 overlap
​	14.240	22.917	US 95 – Lewiston, Coeur d'Alene, Sandpoint
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi       Concurrency terminus

References

1. Idaho Transportation Department (December 18, 2006). "Milepost Log: State Highway 53". Archived from the original on December 13, 2012. Retrieved December 26, 2010.
2. Idaho Transportation Department (1953). "Minutes of the Idaho Board of Highway Directors and the Idaho Transportation Board" (PDF). p. 63. Archived from the original (PDF) on May 10, 2012. Retrieved December 26, 2010.
3. UPRR Common Line Names (PDF) (Map). Union Pacific Railroad. Retrieved December 26, 2010.
4. Lakeland High School (2010). "About Our School". Retrieved December 26, 2010.
5. Google (December 26, 2010). "State Highway 53" (Map). Google Maps. Google. Retrieved December 26, 2010.
6. "Story Map Series". iplan.maps.arcgis.com. Retrieved 2018-12-10.
7. Junior Road Map of Idaho (Map). Rand McNally and Company. 1926. Retrieved December 26, 2010.
8. Texaco Road Map: Idaho, Montana, Wyoming (Map). 1:1,774,080. Rand McNally and Company, Texaco. 1937. Retrieved December 26, 2010.
9. Spokane, 1955 (Map). 1:250,000. Cartography by United States Army Corps of Engineers. United States Geological Survey. 1955. Retrieved December 26, 2010.