Six-vehicle Highway 101 crash snarls traffic in Petaluma

Wednesday morning’s commute south out of Sonoma County turned nasty for hours following a six-vehicle collision in southbound Highway 101 lanes south of Petaluma, the CHP said.

The crash snarled traffic for several miles on that highway and turned Lakeville Highway into a parking lot as well as drivers sought an alternative southbound route.

As of 9 a.m., more than three hours after the apparent chain-reaction collision, southbound traffic on Highway 101 from the Cotati grade through Petaluma into northern Marin County remained slow.

The Lakeville Highway slowdown, at its worst, stretched from Petaluma to Highway 37, CHP Officer Steve Fricke said.

The 5:40 a.m. crash apparently involved no major injuries and occurred near Kastania Road, close to the Marin County line.

The removal of some of the wrecked vehicles took awhile, adding to the traffic issues, said Fricke. “Two vehicles got locked up together. It took forever to get unlocked. That caused an alternative route to back up from Petaluma to Highway 37, at least a 5-6 miles backup,” Fricke said.

A second collision occurred in the Highway 101 backup involving a big rig and a car, causing further problems.

That crash happened at about 6:30 a.m. and occurred near Petaluma Boulevard South, Fricke said.