Book Description

The proposed project provides for construction of a 4-lane divided highway, using existing and/or new alignment that meets applicable standards for a rural expressway with a 70 mph engineering design speed and controlled access. The need for proposed transportation improvements in the TH 53 Priority Project 1 corridor is based on a combination of factors related to capacity, pavement condition, sufficiency ratings, access management, and international and interregional trade corridor status. Year 2020 traffic forecasts in the project area on the existing TH 53 roadway indicate traffic volumes will continue to increase. Overall traffic on TH 53 is expected to increase 42 percent over 1996 traffic volumes. Heavy commercial (truck) traffic is expected to increase by 50 percent over the same period. Without additional corridor capacity, this portion of TH 53 would not provide acceptable level of service.