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Key Central Coast Highway Reopens After Nearly Month Long Closure Due To Storm Damage

(Photo by John Palminteri)
Highway 154 reopened from Santa Barbara to the Santa Ynez Valley Friday morning, after a nearly month long closure

A major Central Coast highway reopened Friday morning after being closed for close to a month due to storm damage.

Highway 154 was shut down near Lake Cachuma February 2nd, after storms clogged a culvert under the roadway, causing it to flood.

The culvert was covered by about 30 feet of water, which had to be drained before it could be unclogged, and repaired.  Crews also had to rebuild an embankment, and fix a damaged section of roadway.  Work went on around the clock for nearly a month to reopen the roadway. 

There could be restricted traffic in the area for some time still as crews do followup work.  But, they reopened access ahead of schedule, with the work originally expected to be completed in mid-March. 

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. 
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