Two people were injured in a head-on crash that forced the partial closure of Highway 1 between Lompoc and Vandenberg Space Force Base for a time Tuesday.
At approximately 5:45 p.m., personnel from the Santa Barbara County Fire Department, the Lompoc Fire Department and the California Highway Patrol were dispatched for a two-vehicle crash on Highway 1 at the intersection with Santa Lucia Canyon Road, Capt. Scott Safechuck said.
Two sedans collided, and one vehicle may have rolled over, according to emergency dispatch reports.
An American Medical Response ambulance crew also went to the scene.
One patient had major injuries and was taken by CalStar medical helicopter to Marian Regional Medical Center, Safechuck said.
A second patient with minor injuries also went to the Santa Maria hospital, he added.
Southbound lanes were shutdown for a time Tuesday, with Caltrans personnel dispatched for the extended closure.
Debris from the wreckage also ended up in the northbound lanes.
It appears to be the first significant crash since implementation of safety measures during the summer.
The intersection has been the focus of safety concerns for years because of a number of deadly crashes and other collisions that left people with various injuries.
A number of meetings involving representatives of various agencies prompted a push to draft short-, medium- and long-term solutions.
An effort to reduce the crashes led to banning left turns from Santa Lucia Canyon Road, forcing drivers to only turn right onto Highway 1, travel to the Constellation Road exit and then re-enter the highway to travel north. The agency’s engineers estimated the switch would add four to five minutes, including waiting at the traffic signals.
However, left turns from Highway 1 onto Santa Lucia Canyon are still allowed.
A long-term and much more costly fix involves constructing an interchange at Santa Lucia Canyon Road, which is used to access the Lompoc Federal Correctional Complex, Vandenberg Pine Canyon entrance (also known as Lompoc Gate) and the southside of Lompoc to avoid traveling the busier North H Street.
CHP officers from Buellton were investigating the circumstances surrounding the crash.
Additional information wasn’t immediately available.