The 33.2 km (20.6 mi) Federal Route 53 became the backbone of the road system linking Seremban to Port Dickson before being surpassed by the Seremban–Port Dickson Highway (E29) in 1998.

[2] The Kilometre Zero of the Federal Route 53 is located at Port Dickson, at its interchange with the Federal Route 5, the main trunk road of the west coast of Peninsular Malaysia.

The Kilometre Zero monument is erected near Pos Malaysia post office at Jalan Baharu, Port Dickson.

By the 1990s to 2000s, the road was bogged down with severe congestion, and the present Seremban–Port Dickson Highway was built to replace it.

At most sections, the Federal Route 53 was built under the JKR R5 road standard, with a speed limit of 90 km/h.