Update: Highway 101, Highway 154 reopen after crashes cause detours
Multiple fatal car crashes temporarily closed traffic on Highway 101 near Goleta Wednesday morning, and another incident disrupted traffic on Highway 154.
Caltrans officials issued an update mid-Wednesday morning that Highway 101 lanes had re-opened, while Highway 154 opened Wednesday afternoon.
Two fatal vehicle collisions were reported on Highway 101 in the area of the western Goleta Valley and Gaviota Coast early Wednesday morning, resulting in four deaths and the total closure of the roadway in both directions for much of the morning.
Santa Barbara County Fire Capt. Daniel Bertucelli said one person was killed in a crash on northbound Highway 101 near Winchester Canyon Road around 2:15 a.m. Wednesday.
Three people were killed in a second collision reported on southbound Highway 101 near Dos Pueblos Canyon Road, around 2:20 a.m, according to the CHP.
Two vehicles were involved in the southbound crash, which involved a wrong-way driver and a head-on collision, according to the CHP incident log. It was reported about five minutes after the first crash and 3 miles away, the CHP said.
Santa Barbara County Fire crews extinguished vehicle fires and extricated victims, Bertucelli said.
The crashes caused temporary closures of southbound lanes, detouring travelers to the Los Angeles area.
One lane of northbound US Highway 101 was closed from Winchester Canyon Road to Dos Pueblos Road on Wednesday morning, according to a Caltrans alert.
Highway 154 was also closed temporarily in both directions following a crash west of Windy Gap area, opening early Wednesday afternoon, Caltrans said.
In that incident, a commercial vehicle wound up on its side, according to Santa Barbara County. The male driver suffered moderate injuries and transported to Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital, the agency said via Twitter.
The agency initially recommended that southbound drivers detour by using State Route 166 to Interstate 5 south.
Officials directed travelers to the CHP Traffic incident information page at http://cad.chp.ca.gov.
This story was originally published August 25, 2021 at 10:10 AM.
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