A rollover vehicle crash on State Route 154 Wednesday morning caused authorities to call for a full closure in both directions for several hours before reopening the roadway around 1:15 p.m.
A utility truck and a sedan were involved in the collision around 8:30 a.m., Santa Barbara County Fire Capt. Daniel Bertucelli said. One person had critical injuries and had to be extricated from one of the vehicles, he said.
Two more people were transported to the hospital with minor injuries, he said.
There was heavy traffic reported on State Route 154 at the time of the crash, because of the southbound Highway 101 closure, according to the California Highway Patrol.
Two fatal vehicle collisions were reported on Highway 101 west of Goleta Wednesday morning, and the California Highway Patrol is investiging both incidents. Southbound Highway 101 lanes were closed until about 11 a.m.
That means drivers were being detoured to State Route 246 and State Route 154, which has one lane in each direction stretching from the Santa Ynez Valley to Santa Barbara.
This is the second day in a row that an overturned vehicle has caused a full closure of State Route 154, and it’s at the same location, Windy Gap.
“State Route 154 is blocked at Windy Gap following an incident involving an overturned truck and vehicle. One party trapped in the vehicle,” the CHP said Wednesday morning.
“There is a hard closure of SR 154 at Cathedral Oaks (in Santa Barbara) and the State Route 154/246 roundabout in Santa Ynez. Please use U.S. Highway 101 northbound or I-5 southbound as an alternate route.”
CHP incident logs indicated that notification signs will be placed along southbound Highway 101 warning drivers of the closures.
— Noozhawk managing editor Giana Magnoli can be reached at gmagnoli@noozhawk.com. Follow Noozhawk on Twitter: @noozhawk, @NoozhawkNews and @NoozhawkBiz. Connect with Noozhawk on Facebook.