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Big Rig Accident Closes Major Santa Barbara County Highway For Hours

A Tuesday morning big rig accident closed Highway 154 in Santa Barbara County for hours.
Mike Eliason
/
Santa Barbara County Fire Department.
A Tuesday morning big rig accident closed Highway 154 in Santa Barbara County for hours.

Thousands of motorists delayed before highway cleared.

A big rig accident caused major problems for thousands of motorists on the Central and South Coasts Tuesday morning, when it closed sections of a major highway for hours.

The tractor-trailer rig overturned on Highway 154 near Painted Cave Road, on San Marcos Pass. The accident happened just after 9 a.m. The truck driver suffered serious injuries.

Traffic had to be rerouted onto Highway 101. The situation became even more complicated when another big rig trying to turn around became stuck in the area.

The highway finally reopened at around 1 p.m. The cause of the accident is still under investigation.

Lance Orozco has been News Director of KCLU since 2001, providing award-winning coverage of some of the biggest news events in the region, including the Thomas and Woolsey brush fires, the deadly Montecito debris flow, the Borderline Bar and Grill attack, and Ronald Reagan's funeral.