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Officially an east-west road, Route 67 follows a jagged diagonal path from New Milford toward New Haven. About 5/6 of a mile (from Ranney Hill Road south past Route 317) of Route 67 is an official scenic route.
Other features of the route include:
Parts of Route 67 in Oxford and Southbury follow the old Oxford Turnpike, a toll road incorporated in 1795 and operated into the 1880s. In Bridgewater and New Milford, it follows the old New Milford and Roxbury Turnpike, chartered in 1823.
Route 67 was commissioned in 1932, created using the former state highways 125 and 147. Its original route extended from Route 25 (now Route 133) in Bridgewater to US 5 in New Haven; it was considered an east-west route.
The original Route 67 in detail:
The length of this route was 33.33 miles.
On April 28, 1943, the state Highway Department changed several routes in the Bridgewater area, citing a "departmental custom of carrying a route number on its logical location as indicated by checks and counts of traffic using the route." With this change, Route 25 no longer passed through Bridgewater on its way to New Milford; Route 133 took its place in the south. Route 67 took over former Route 25 leading west from Bridgewater, extending to the relocated Route 25 (Bridge St) in New Milford. Its new length was 37.31 miles.
In 1959, Route 67 was moved from Clapboard Road to New Milford Road East, and Route 133 was extended a short distance along Main Street (part of the former 67 alignment). Clapboard Road became Route 67A.
For maps of these changes, see Bridgewater Roads.
Four short roads in Oxford are left over from small Route 67 realignments made in the 1930s. Their names are evocative: Old State Road 67, and Old State Roads number 1, 2, and 3.
Old Drive is the original Route 67, skirting a bend in the Little River. Around 1950, two bridges were built, allowing Bank Street and Route 67 to continue straight.
Originally, Route 67, not Route 63, followed Whalley Avenue into New Haven. In 1949, its eastern end was moved from Sherman Ave (US 5) to Boulevard (Route 10), for a length of 37.12 miles.
In 1954, Route 63 and Route 69 were added, for a triple concurrency leading to Route 10. In 1962, Route 67 was truncated at Route 63, and remains that way today.
In October 1998, the state replaced a railroad overpass in Seymour; the tracks passed only 12.5 feet over Route 67, causing trucks – about one per month – to get stuck. The new bridge has a 14.5 foot clearance, and Route 67 is lowered as well. An infrared device was installed west of First Street to warn too-tall trucks to detour onto Route 115, but still truckers were getting stuck.
Route 67 is the primary east-west highway through Seymour, and suffers from traffic congestion (over 20,000 ADT on a two-lane road) and safety problems. In 2002, the town's Board of Selectmen formed a Route 67 Study Committee: three residents to study the entire length of the highway within Seymour town borders. The trio would work with the Valley Regional Planning Agency (now the Valley Council of Governments) and the town of Oxford.
As of mid-2004, the study had unfortunately been all-volunteer, since funding could not be obtained. In May 2004, U.S. Rep. Rosa DeLauro asked Congress for $400,000 toward a complete engineering and environmental impact study, placing the project on a high priority list for the 2005 federal transportation bill.
In 2010, the state made changes to Route 67 and Grove Street in downtown New Milford to reduce congestion and increase safety. Grove Street was realigned, and Route 67 and US 202 changed slightly, with a triangular intersection removed.
The Valley COG (formerly Valley Planning Region) Arterial and Collector Street Improvement Program compiled in 2003 included an $8 million project to widen Bank Street (Route 67) in Seymour to four lanes. This has not been done yet.
Work on Route 67 in 1947 attracted an irate letter to the Hartford Courant from a West Hartford citizen who believed the Highway Department's priorities were misplaced. I reproduce part of it here. Let's just say it ends with a flourish:
Why should a new road be constructed between New Milford and Bridgewater, Route 67? ... It would seem that more important roads should receive first attention ... for example, Route 6 between Farmington and Bristol. It is likely that this highway has more traffic in one day than Route 67 has in one month. Yet Route 67 gets the priority ... an obscure, secluded, scenic cow path ... Route 67 is a remote area high above the Housatonic River ... maybe the great Indian sachem, Waramaug, did not depart these hills but still resides there, and it has been found appropriate to run a brand new road straight to the opening feathered flap of his wigwam.