Texas US 83 is a largely north–south highway, in length, in Texas except for a segment parallel to the
Rio Grande, where it takes an east–west course, much of which
runs concurrently with
Interstate 2 (I-2). It enters the United States and Texas near
Brownsville concurrent with
US 77 and then splits from US 77 at
Harlingen. Passing
Weslaco with I-2, it begins to veer northward and passes the current western terminus of I-2 at
Peñitas(A new short roadway designated as Spur 83 forms a branch from Business US 83 to I-2), follows the Rio Grande to
Laredo where it meets
I-35 in a concurrency before heading northwestward. It meets
I-10 at
Junction, where it has a concurrency with I-10, before heading almost due-north to
Abilene, meeting
I-20 on an expressway before heading north again on mostly undivided surface roads. It again heads slightly west of due north to meet
US 287 in
Childress and
I-40 in
Shamrock. About north of
Perryton it leaves Texas and enters Oklahoma. Except for Abilene, Laredo, and some cities in the lower Rio Grande Valley it is largely rural in nature.
Oklahoma US 83 traverses the Oklahoma panhandle along the western border of
Beaver County, but in this brief stretch it encounters no fewer than three other federal highways. Approximately from the Texas line, US 83 intersects
US 412 in the hamlet of
Bryan's Corner. Continuing its journey northward, the highway crosses the
Beaver River, then intersects
US 64 in
Turpin. US 83 north and US 64 east are co-signed for three northbound miles, where US 64 turns eastward. At this intersection,
US 270 west joins the highway, and together with US 83 proceeds northbound for the final to the Kansas line.
Kansas US 83 enters the Sunflower State in
Seward County, approximately south of
Liberal, where it intersects
US 54 and US 270 ends. North of Liberal, US 83 begins a concurrency with
US 160, and the highways remain joined until reaching
Sublette, the seat of
Haskell County. US 83 and US 160 split north of Sublette; US 160 heads west toward
Ulysses, and US 83 continues north toward
Garden City. At Garden City,
US 50 and
US 400 join US 83 for a brief concurrency on a bypass around the east and north sides of the city while US 83 Business follows the former routing through downtown. All three routes cross
K-156, also known as Kansas Avenue, in the northwest portion of the city. At the north end of the US 50/US 83 Business route, US 83 splits and heads north toward
Scott City, while US 50 and US 400 remain joined through the rest of the state. The highway passes through largely unpopulated areas of
Finney County and
Scott County before reaching a junction with
K-96 in downtown Scott City. In northern Scott County,
K-4 has its origins at US 83, heading east toward
Healy, and US 83 traverses through rolling farmlands until reaching
Oakley, the seat of
Logan County. US 83 reaches
US 40 less than a mile west of
I-70, and the two highways jog west for a brief multiplex before US 83 splits and crosses I-70. North of I-70, US 83 intersects US 24 then curves northeast, east of
Gem in
Thomas County. US 83 continues its northeasterly track through
Rexford and
Selden. After passing through Selden, US 83 intersects the southern terminus of K-383 and the northern terminus of K-23. From here, US 83 turns north, crosses into
Decatur County then continues north and intersects
US 36 in
Oberlin. Oberlin is the last area of significant population the highway passes in Kansas; the next city is
McCook, Nebraska.
Nebraska ,
Nebraska Sandhills, and US 83 in Thomas County, Nebraska US 83 enters Nebraska south of
McCook, where it meets
US 6 and
US 34. It continues northward to
North Platte, where it intersects
I-80 and
US 30. After leaving North Platte in a northeasterly direction, it turns north near
Thedford and goes north through the
Sand Hills to
Valentine. For before Valentine, it runs concurrently with
US 20. After passing through Valentine, it continues north to enter South Dakota. On its journey through Nebraska, the road "passes more cattle than people".
North Dakota From South Dakota, US 83 enters
North Dakota near the town of
Hague, and runs northward for approximately , serving the small cities of
Strasburg and
Linton before reaching
Interstate 94. It follows I-94 west to
Bismarck, where it resumes a generally northward course as a four-lane highway. Headed toward
Minot US 83 traverses mostly agricultural land, passing through the small cities of
Wilton,
Washburn, and
Underwood north to
Max. Leaving Underwood, US 83 encounters a large
strip-mining coal (
lignite) operation which can be seen from the roadway in the vicinity of
Falkirk. North of
Coleharbor, US 83 briefly merges both roadways and shares land with an adjacent railroad line in order to cross a viaduct that separates
Lake Sakakawea from
Lake Audubon. North of the lakes, the surroundings return to cropland and grazing land, with a
wind farm located south of Minot. The highway passes directly through central Minot as
Broadway, the city's primary north-south thoroughfare, with the
Minot Bypass to the west as an alternate route. After passing
Minot Air Force Base, US 83 returns to a two-lane highway; approximately north of the base, it is co-signed with eastbound
State Highway 5 for about . The highway then diverges from ND 5 to head north through
Westhope to the
Canadian border. == Major intersections ==