A key section of Highway 101 in Santa Barbara County is completely open again, but a big rig accident disrupted traffic on it for more than nine hours.
The tractor-trailer rig was headed northbound on Highway 101 early Tuesday morning when the driver apparently lost control of it near the Santa Monica Road offramp in Carpinteria.
The truck hit a guardrail, and plunged through a fence separating Highway 101 from a neighborhood. The tractor ended up in the driveway of a home, while the trailer tipped over, blocking one of the two northbound lanes.
The driver escaped with minor injuries, but hazardous material teams had to be called to clean up a fertilizer and fuel spill.
The 5 a.m. accident backed up traffic on the highway for miles, with some people experiencing two hour plus delays. One lane was reopened by midday, and both lanes were back in business by 2:30 Tuesday afternoon.
