Pair of semitruck crashes snarl Tuesday traffic in Petaluma

A semitruck carrying chicken feed toppled and spilled some of its contents Tuesday morning, prompting a nearly eight-hour closure of two westbound lanes of Old Redwood Highway at Highway 101 in Petaluma.

It was the first of two Petaluma crashes involving semitrucks on Tuesday.

In the second, a big rig collided with another vehicle on Lakeville Highway on Tuesday afternoon, police said. No one was injured.

The crashes made for a busy day for police and other first responders.

“It’s just unusual to have two big rig collisions in the span of a few hours,” said Petaluma Police Lt. Tim Lyons.

In the morning crash, an 18-wheel truck was attempting to turn onto Petaluma Boulevard North from the offramp when it overturned about 7:43 a.m., the California Highway Patrol said.

Some of the 70,000 pounds of organic feed in the truck spilled onto the roadway.

In addition to Petaluma police, Rancho Adobe Fire Protection District, Petaluma Fire Department and a Sonoma County hazmat crew also responded to the scene.

The affected lanes reopened just before 4 p.m. Police initially planned to open the lanes around noon.

The big rig driver was able to exit the vehicle by kicking out the windshield, Lyons said. The driver suffered minor to moderate injuries and declined to be transported to a hospital.

The police department is investigating the cause of the crash.

The Lakeville Highway crash occurred around 1 p.m, police said, when a westbound semitruck and trailer on Lakeville Highway struck another vehicle traveling the same direction near Casa Grande Road in southern Petaluma, closing the affected lane for several hours.

Lyons said officers arrived to the Lakeville Highway crash within 10 minutes, but due to the Old Redwood Highway crash, it was difficult to get large tow trucks to the scene promptly.

Staff Writer Colin Atagi and Petaluma Argus-Courier intern Emma Molloy contributed to this story.

You can reach Staff Writer Madison Smalstig at madison.smalstig@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @madi.smals.