AGNEW — A Sequim man was killed and a Port Angeles man was injured in a two-truck collision Monday morning that closed U.S. Highway 101 for more than four hours.
The death of Klaus J. Steinhorst was the 15th on North Olympic Peninsula highways since Jan. 1.
Monday’s wreck happened at 7:05 a.m. just east of Shore Road between Port Angeles and Carlsborg.
It closed a six-mile section of Highway 101 between Carlsborg Road and Blue Mountain Road, and traffic was rerouted along Old Olympic Highway until U.S. 101 was reopened at 11:20 a.m.
Troopers from the State Patrol said a 1988 Chevrolet pickup driven by 31-year-old Gary A. Gilbeck of Port Angeles was traveling eastbound when it crossed the centerline to pass a vehicle and collided with Steinhorst’s 1990 Chevrolet pickup heading westbound on a two-lane stretch of Highway 101.
Steinhorst’s truck flipped on its side and came to a stop on the shoulder of the westbound lane.
Gilbeck’s truck skidded to a stop several hundred feet away on the eastbound shoulder.
Steinhorst, 57, was already dead when rescue crews from Clallam County Fire District No. 3 arrived, Fire Chief Steve Vogel said.
Gilbeck was taken by ambulance to Olympic Medical Center in Port Angeles, where a helicopter later flew him to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle.
He was listed in satisfactory condition Monday afternoon, a Harborview spokeswoman said.
About two hours later, State Patrol Sgt. Ken Przygocki was summoned from the scene to a rollover crash on Highway 101 near Gardiner, which occurred at 9:25 a.m. and slowed traffic for more than an hour.
