PORT ANGELES — Aficionados of classic cars gathered in the parking lot of Deer Park Cinemas on Sunday afternoon suddenly heard a “horrible noise.”
Many of them ran to the top of the knoll overlooking the intersection of U.S. Highway 101 and Deer Park Road to see the wreckage of two pickup trucks that had collided just seconds before.
“We were looking at the cars [on display] and heard a loud crunch, a horrible noise,” said Lorraine Milligan of Sequim.
Milligan, her daughter and others watched the rescue operation and initial State Patrol investigation.
One person was injured in the crash, the State Patrol reported.
Rick Rivett, 46, of Port Angeles was driving a 1998 black Dodge Dakota pickup eastbound on Highway 101, when Charles Schwarzrock, 91, of Sequim, westbound in a blue 2005 Toyota Tacoma, attempted a left turn onto Deer Park Road.
Schwarzrock turned into Rivett’s path, troopers said.
Both drivers were taken to Olympic Medical Center in Port Angeles, where Rivett was treated and released, a hospital spokesperson said.
The hospital had no record for Schwarzrock, the spokesperson added.
More information on the elderly man’s condition was unavailable Sunday night.
Traffic was reduced to two lanes for more than an hour.
The intersection of Deer Park and Highway 101 is scary to motorists, said another car show visitor, Dede Milligan of Sequim.
Traffic at the intersection has to cross the four-lane highway to reach the movie theater, Wilder Auto Sales car dealership and many residences south of Highway 101.
“It makes you not want to come up this way,” Milligan said.
“I wish they would hurry up and get the underpass built.”
Construction of he underpass — in which Deer Park Road will pass beneath Highway 101 and connect with Buchanan Drive — is expected to begin late this year.
Ramps to and from Highway 101 are expected to take the traffic pressure off the current Deer Park Road intersection, county traffic officials have said.
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Reporter Arwyn Rice can be reached at 360-417-3535 or at arwyn.rice@peninsuladaily
news.com.
