High Quality Content by WIKIPEDIA articles! Illinois Route 53 is an arterial north–south state highway in northeast Illinois. Route 53 runs south from Long Grove at Illinois Route 83 to Gardner at Interstate 55 west of old U.S. Highway 66, a distance of 82.02 miles (132.00 km). It mainly cuts through the western suburbs of Chicago, passes through Joliet, and straddles I-55 at its southern extent.