State Route 67 (SR 67) is a state highway in the U.S. state of California in San Diego County. It runs from Interstate 8 in El Cajon to Lakeside as the San Vicente Freeway. It then becomes a highway through the eastern part of Poway and becomes Main Street in the town of Ramona before ending at SR 78. SR 67 thus provides direct access from the city of San Diego to East County, Ramona, and Julian.

The route existed as a railroad corridor since the turn of the 20th century; a highway was built by 1913, and was designated as Legislative Route 198 in the state highway system by 1935, to become SR 67 in the 1964 state highway renumbering. A freeway south of Lakeside was built in the late 1960s, and opened to traffic in 1970. Since then, the road north of Lakeside has become known for a high number of traffic accidents and related fatalities. Caltrans has made several attempts to remedy the problem and make the road safer.

SR 67 begins as the San Vicente Freeway at I-8 and turns to the north near the Westfield Parkway shopping center in El Cajon. Interchanges with Broadway / Fletcher Parkway and Bradley Avenue occur as the freeway leaves the El Cajon city limits, entering the city of Santee near Gillespie Field. It comes to an interchange with the eastern end of SR 52 in Santee. Near the Woodside Avenue exit, SR 67 turns to the northeast, paralleling the San Diego River and entering the unincorporated area of Eucalyptus Hills as it leaves the San Diego urban area. Riverford Road and Winter Gardens Boulevard have interchanges with SR 67.

The freeway ends and SR 67 turns north into a conventional highway at Mapleview Street, crossing the San Diego River and entering the town of Moreno. SR 67 enters the rural area east of Sycamore Canyon County Open Space Preserve, passing to the west of San Vicente Reservoir, near the town of Foster. The road intersects the eastern end of Scripps Poway Parkway and CR S4, the latter within the Poway city limits. In eastern Poway, SR 67 turns east, eventually leaving the city and entering unincorporated Rock Haven. The road continues near Rosemont before turning northeast and becoming Julian Road and then Main Street in downtown Ramona. SR 67 ends at the intersection with SR 78; SR 78 intersects to the northwest as Pine Street and continues northeast along Main Street towards Julian.

SR 67 is part of the California Freeway and Expressway System, but is not part of the National Highway System, a network of roadways important to the country's economy, defense, and mobility. The route is named CHP Officer Christopher D. Lydon Memorial Freeway from Interstate 8 to Mapleview Street in Lakeside. In 2011, SR 67 had an annual average daily traffic (AADT) of 83,000 between Broadway and Bradley Avenue, and 18,400 between Rio Marta Road and Poway Road, the former of which was the highest AADT for the freeway.

A road existed to Julian by 1872 that was used for stagecoaches; however, in 1883 it was described as a "disgrace to the county. It could hardly be in a worse condition... and should be repaired immediately." On October 21, 1885, the county Board of Supervisors agreed to a realignment the Julian road in what was known as the Bernardo District onto what was private property. The road was described in 1890 as passing through farms, and the grade was "cut on the west side of the canyon and buttressed with granite the greater part of the way." The route continued towards Ramona through vineyards and encountering more boulders.

Between 1885 and 1891, the San Diego, Cuyamaca, and Eastern Railroad was extended from San Diego through El Cajon to the town of Foster, northeast of Lakeside. In 1896, the stagecoach line connected the terminus of the railroad line in Foster to Julian, also transporting the San Diego papers to Ramona by 2:30 pm each day. In 1913, the county began to survey a new routing of the Julian road cutting through the El Monte Ranch, reducing the distance to Julian by 5 miles (8.0 km) and removing some steep grades.

Bidding was conducted on what was known as Road No. 3A on July 1, 1920; however, progress on the grading of the road fell behind the county engineer's expectations by October, with only 3.5 miles (5.6 km) of the road complete. The road was paved from Santee to El Cajon by the end of 1920. Between Fosters and Julian, the paved road was opened in July 1922, at a cost of $550,000 (about $38,611,655 in 2012 dollars[update]). The "Ramona road" remained unpaved between the Mussey Grade and the road to Ballena, a distance of 20 miles (32 km), and the estimated cost of paving it was $400,000 (about $24,558,264 in 2012 dollars[update]). In 1925, there were 12 miles (19 km) left of unpaved road between Ramona and Julian, and state and county taxes were to be used to fund this project. The Mussey Grade was completed in April 1925, marking the completion of the paved road between San Diego and Ramona.

San Diego County declared the Julian Road a boulevard in 1926. The road that would become SR 67 was added to the state highway system in 1933, from El Cajon to near Santa Ysabel, and was designated as Route 198 in 1935. It consisted of Maine and Woodside avenues in Lakeside and Magnolia Avenue in the city of El Cajon all the way to U.S. Route 80 (US 80) at Main Street.

The road was allocated $830,784 in funding (about $32,417,295 in 2012 dollars[update]) to be realigned, widened, and repaved between Lakeside and Mount Woodson in 1942, due to the construction of the San Vicente Reservoir and the demand for more water in San Diego. Grading and paving of the 11.7-mile (18.8 km) part was scheduled for completion on December 15, 1943. Funding was allocated for traffic signals on the portion between Main Street and Broadway in 1954. Route 198 also extended onto La Mesa Boulevard and Palm Avenue to SR 94. This portion was signed as the Sign Route 67 highway by 1962, from Campo Road to US 80. In the 1964 state highway renumbering, Route 198 was renumbered as State Route 67; the portion south of I-8 was renumbered as SR 125. A contract for construction of a left-turn lane at the Lakeside Avenue intersection was awarded to Asphalt Inc. for $23,645 in 1971 (about $204,156 in 2012 dollars[update]).

The State Highway Commission decided to reroute SR 67 through Lakeside in 1954, moving it closer to the San Diego River and away from the city center, using the old railroad "right-of-way". In 1961, the construction of the San Vicente Freeway was listed as a high-priority project by the California Chamber of Commerce. During 1964, the county of San Diego received $1 million (about $13.5 million in 2012 dollars[update]) to construct SR 67 as a freeway from Pepper Drive to Broadway in the city of El Cajon. Another $1 million (about $12.7 million in 2012 dollars[update]) was allocated in 1965, and the project was extended to I-8. The freeway from I-8 to Pepper Drive was complete by 1967, when Caltrans announced that "yellow, non-reflectorized markers interspersed with raised yellow dots" would be used on the freeway portion to delineate the shoulder, the first section to use them in the county. By December 1968, the freeway was complete from I-8 to Woodside Avenue; the Woodside Avenue grade was smoothed out during the widening of the road in early 1970. In March, the freeway was under construction from there to the San Diego River, at a cost of $3.2 million (about $29.6 million in 2012 dollars[update]). The freeway portion was completed and opened on October 12, 1970; it was constructed four lanes wide.

It was planned that SR 67 would be the eastern terminus of SR 56. On December 30, 1980, the City of Poway included SR 56 in the city plan extending all the way east through the city to a northern extension of SR 125. In 1983, both the cities of San Diego and Poway supported the extension of SR 56 all the way to SR 67, although the City of Poway wanted the route moved and had reservations about the freeway ending in their city. There are no plans to construct the portion of SR 56 east of I-15. Several arterial roads connect the eastern end of the SR 56 freeway with SR 67, including Ted Williams Parkway, Twin Peaks Road, Espola Road (CR S5), and Poway Road (CR S4).

The highway portion of SR 67 was popularly known as "Slaughterhouse Alley" because of the high number of fatal accidents. The road was widened in 1979 to add a shoulder and passing lane between the north end of the freeway and Poway Road. During the construction, there were concerns about speeding cars putting the construction workers in danger. The total cost was $927,000 (about $3,815,000 in 2012 dollars[update]), and Asphalt Inc. performed the work.

The reputation of the highway continued into the 2000s. In 2000, a $1 million project (about $1.33 million in 2012 dollars[update]) was authorized to widen the shoulders of the road, after there were 413 accidents and 15 fatalities on SR 67 from 1996 to 1999. At this time, County Supervisor Dianne Jacob proposed expanding the highway portion to four lanes along the entire route. Following a safety initiative, including the involvement of law enforcement and trucking companies, accidents and fatalities both decreased by the end of 2001. Accidents continued, however, and by November 2008, electronic signs were installed to inform motorists of their speed, and another publicity campaign had been launched. The reduction from two lanes to one lane heading southbound just after a curve has been blamed for at least some of the accidents, with collisions resulting from cars "jockeying" to be ahead. Head-on collisions are another source of crashes. Contrary to this, Caltrans did not view the road as unsafe according to official metrics.

In May 2009, the San Diego Association of Governments (SANDAG) announced that fixing SR 67 was number 17 on its priority list, resulting in an estimated 2030 completion of a four-lane highway that would not be limited-access. A month later, Caltrans and the California Highway Patrol agreed to take more efforts to educate the public about the safety issues. Signs were installed in 2010 to encourage drivers to practice safe driving habits; from January 2007 to early December 2010, twenty-four people died from accidents on SR 67. Following a March 2009 fatal crash, some of the victims filed a lawsuit against Caltrans for negligence in maintaining and designing the highway, but the suit was decided in favor of the department.

In 1983, the Kassler Corporation was awarded a contract to renovate the interchange with I-8 for $9.1 million (about $28.3 million in 2012 dollars[update]). SR 67 from Poway Road to the Poway city limits was proposed to be widened in 1985. There was a movement in 1987 to construct a northbound offramp at Woodside Avenue, due to traffic congestion at the Prospect Avenue offramp; however, it was never built. Call boxes were installed on SR 67 in 1994.

There was also a proposal in 2000 to renovate the interchange at Bradley Avenue. In 2001, SANDAG approved the construction of a southern bypass of Ramona and widening from Vigilante Road to Dye Road for a cost of $200 million as part of a 2030 transportation plan. A roundabout was suggested to calm traffic in place of widening by the chairman of the Ramona Planning Group.

The road's guardrails and signs sustained damage in the 2003 Cedar Fire. In 2003, it was planned that Route 67 would be widened from Mapleview Street to Dye Road; however, when threatened with a lawsuit from Save Our Forests and Ranchlands, SANDAG agreed to "reconsider" the project. Traffic jams were prevalent on October 21 and 22 in 2007, during the 2007 Southern California wildfires and the evacuation of Ramona on the narrow road.

"Heavy construction" of SR 52 from SR 125 eastward to SR 67 began in February 2008, delayed by funding issues that were finally resolved in 2006 with voter-approved statewide transportation bonds. The interchange with SR 52 began construction in mid-June 2008. Completion was scheduled for 2010, but was delayed to early 2011 due to weather-related delays. This new interchange was opened to traffic on March 29, 2011. The cost of this project was $525 million, funded with state and federal funds as well as TransNet revenue.

Except where prefixed with a letter, postmiles were measured on the road as it was in 1964, and do not necessarily reflect current mileage. The entire route is in San Diego County.