When two trucks collided during the morning commute a couple of weeks on Highway 101 in Cotati, northbound lanes were closed for hours, leaving many commuters fuming.

Some Road Warrior readers wondered if the CHP and Caltrans could have done more to alleviate the massive congestion that the closure caused.

“It would have been very helpful to start diverting traffic off in Petaluma or Penngrove. It was ridiculous that there were no CHP to direct traffic so it continued to pile up on the Cotati Grade just to have everyone exit at the small country road,” wrote in Mary.

“Why is it these cops cannot get out of their cars and direct traffic. They can work the signals manually and help the flow,” wrote Bill.

Capt. Greg Tracey, commander of the Sonoma County CHP office, defended the response to the blockage.

He said media throughout the North Bay quickly were told of the closure and email and web alerts were issued so that drivers would be aware of the problem and could use alternate routes; electronic road construction signs were changed to warn drivers of the closure, but more weren’t available from Caltrans; and construction barricades were moved to allow traffic stuck near the accident to turn around.

He said extra officers were called in and some were dispatched to key intersections, such as Highway 116 and Stony Point Road, to try to help commuters trying to get around the accident. But he said it soon became clear that traffic was so heavy — “there’s just not enough roadway to handle all of the cars” — that the officers weren’t making a dent in the congestion and were reassigned to try to control traffic problems elsewhere.

Could 101 have been closed farther south, such as at Petaluma Boulevard North?

Tracey said 101 was left open up to the the exit before the crash because drivers could get off there and that may have been the destination for some.

“It’s not our job to tell people not to use the highway,” he said.

He said drivers need to take the responsibility of being aware of traffic issues, listening to radio reports and such, they need to know of alternate routes ahead of time and they need to give themselves enough time to get to work or school.

Tracey said he got to work at the CHP’s Rohnert Park office by leaving his Petaluma home and heading northwest toward Sebastopol before cutting back to Rohnert Park.

“I’m surprised more accidents haven’t happened in the construction zone,” he said.

He said drivers largely ignore the 55-mph limit in the construction zone — “the majority of people are doing 70.” He said it’s been hard to police the highway there because of few safe spots for officers to park and monitor speeds and for speeders to be pulled over and because of a limited number of officers.

Unsafe speed and inattention to traffic appear to be the cause of the Oct. 20 crash, he said.

Tracey said he was pleased by how his officers responded to the closure and wouldn’t do anything different if one occurs again.

“All things considered, I thought Caltrans did a pretty damn good job,” he said, noting 101 was reopened before the 9 p.m. estimate.

Caltrans did not respond to calls seeking comment.

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