Guardrail installed on dangerous stretch of Clear Creek Road

For years Clear Creek Nursery owner Sean Olmsted has requested that a guardrail be installed along a portion of Clear Creek Road which overlooks a steep 30-foot embankment.

On Monday that request was finally fulfilled when Pan-Arctic Contractor Inc., out of Orting, began installing a 375-foot guardrail as part of a countywide safety project, according to Callene Abernathy, spokeswoman for Kitsap County Public Works. That stretch of road, between Clear Creek RV Center and the nursery, was identified some time ago as needing a guardrail, she added.

“It’s a great thing,” Olmsted said. “It will help protect customers in the nursery.”

In September 2004 a crane was needed to lift a truck out of the nursery’s waterfall pond after it veered off the roadway and landed 30-feet down the hill.

The driver of the truck, who was not injured, had said he swerved to miss a car coming into his lane when he drove off the sharp corner. An employee of Rodgers Landscaping, he was driving a 3/4-ton truck along with a 15-foot trailer full of landscaping supplies.

The truck was lifted out of the pond without any problems, but it left a large hole in the pond liner, costing thousands of dollars to repair, according to Olmsted who had to submit the claim to his insurance company.

But that wasn’t the only incident that has occurred because of the lack of a guardrail.

“Right before they began installing the guardrail, the wheel of a taxi cab came off and a few hours later it was found in the pond,” Olmsted said. “This new guardrail

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