Big Rig Hauling Produce, Food Items Crashes on Highway 101, Briefly Blocking Several Lanes

UPDATE 1 p.m.: CHP officials say all lanes of U.S. Highway 101 near the North San Pedro Road off-ramp are back open after an hours-long closure prompted by a big rig crash during the morning commute Friday.

According to the California Highway Patrol, the incident happened around 8:20 a.m. as the driver of large box truck that was hauling fresh produce and other food lost control on the wet roadway. The driver was headed northbound, just north of Lincoln Avenue in San Rafael.

"The truck subsequently collided with the center divide wall, propelling debris into the southbound lanes," a CHP report states. "The trailer came to rest atop the center divide wall leaving multiple lanes of both northbound and southbound 101 blocked."

Northbound lanes were blocked while crews tried to offload the cargo, recover the trailer and truck, and make emergency repairs to the center divide wall, the CHP said.

All lanes were back open by noon.

ORIGINAL STORY:

SAN RAFAEL, CA — An overturned truck is blocking lanes on both northbound and southbound U.S. Highway 101 near the North San Pedro Road off-ramp in San Rafael this morning, the California Highway Patrol said.

The truck struck the wall in the center divide, scattering food it was hauling around 8:25 a.m., and is leaning on the wall, CHP Officer Andrew Barclay said.

Four lanes of both northbound and southbound Highway 101 are blocked, Barclay said.

Officials tweeted a photo around 9:30 a.m. of the traffic backup caused as a result of the collision on Friday morning and advised commuters to "expect significant delays" on both northbound and southbound sides of the roadway.

Patch will update this breaking news story as more information becomes available. Refresh for the latest.

Image credit: Marin CHP

— Bay City News Service contributed to this report.