Near 18 Mile Road, M-53 curves to the northeast and separates from Van Dyke Avenue. This separation is marked by an interchange as M-53 also transitions into a full, four-lane freeway. The interchange, numbered exit 15, connects to a roundabout junction with 18½ Mile Road and Van Dyke Avenue. M-53, now named either the Van Dyke Freeway or the Christopher Columbus Freeway, crosses the Clinton River before resuming a northward course, passing to the east side of Utica in Shelby Township. M-53 runs about to the east of Van Dyke Avenue through the area, and north of the 23 Mile Road interchange, it curves northwesterly to draw closer to Van Dyke. The landscape is mostly residential subdivisions with parks and golf courses as the freeway exits Metro Detroit proper. There is one last interchange near 28 Mile Road where the freeway meets Van Dyke Road, as it is now called. M-53 turns northeasterly, running as an expressway, with at-grade intersections for access at the key cross roads instead of full interchanges. The expressway section bypasses Romeo to its east, passing between the city and the Romeo State Airport. The highway is also known as the POW/MIA Memorial Freeway. There are intersections for 30 and 32 Mile roads before the highway curves to the northwest and transitions back to a rural undivided, two-lane, highway near 34 Mile Road. The Columbus Freeway designation drops at this point, and M-53 follows Van Dyke Road north and northwesterly through rural northern Macomb County.