State Route 67 is No. 1 on Congressman Duncan Hunter’s Transportation High Priority Project (HPP) list.
In a letter to Ramona Community Planning Group Chair Chris Anderson, Hunter said he has asked for $8 million in federal money from the  House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee to pay for environmental and engineering studies needed before widening of the state highway can begin.
“Specifically, this $8 million will allow SANDAG to begin working with the California Department of Transportation to eventually widen SR-67 from a two-lane to a four-lane conventional highway and construct truck climbing and passing lanes as required from Mapleview Street in Lakeside to Highland Valley/Dye Road in Ramona,” reads Hunter’s letter, dated July 14.
Michael Harrison, Hunter’s deputy chief of staff and a Ramona resident, said last week that letters had been sent to leaders in Ramona, Poway, Santee, Lakeside and El Cajon.
Hunter, a Republican who represents District 52 in the U.S. Congress, stated in his letter that SR-67 has been a significant source of concern for many years.
“Far too frequently, this highway has been the site of many serious accidents, some fatal, which can be attributed to the environment of rolling terrain, numerous entrance and exit points and motorists traveling at high speeds, or acting negligently, with little room to react during emergencies,” wrote Hunter.
While improvements have been discussed for years, access to financial resources and competing projects in San Diego County have hampered efforts to widen the road, Hunter acknowledged.
“It is for this reason I wanted to update the Ramona Community Planning Group on my efforts to work directly with the San Diego Association of Governments and San Diego County Supervisor Dianne Jacob on this issue,” Hunter told Anderson. “It is my goal to coordinate efforts to identify funding and other resources necessary to start the environmental studies required by state and federal law to begin making SR-67 a safer highway in our community.”
Hunter said it is his understanding that Jacob is working to dedicate local funding for SR-67.
“While these changes will not occur overnight, these first steps are essential to finally making this highway a safer way to travel in our community,” Hunter wrote.
For more information about HPP transportation projects for which Hunter is seeking federal money, go online to www.hunter.house.gov.