Snow Storm Leads to Rhodie Kill on Vernhardson

It doesn't take much snow accumulation for things to get hairy on Vernhardson Street at the north end of Gig Harbor, and Thursday, Feb. 24, was no different.

Although the late afternoon snowfall didn't last long, vehicles attempting to navigate Vernhardson's steep hill almost immediately ran into trouble, as neighborhood residents and I witnessed. At least two automobiles spun off the road, damaging landscaping and running over a power box.

At about 4:30 p.m., just as the snow was falling its hardest, a service van heading down the street swerved into the yard of  the two-story rambler in the 3500 block of Vernhardson. The van, which had side-panel signage indicating it was from Pacific Air Systems, plowed through a rhododendron bush and dislodged rocks in a small retaining wall before the driver regained control. He steered the vehicle back onto the road and drove away without attempting to make contact with the home's residents.

This wasn't the first time an automobile has ended up in the property's yard due to slippery roads. "Sometimes it turns into a parking lot, but there's never been any real damage before," said Matt Morgan, who has rented the home for the past two years.

Because the incident occurred after office hours, Dan Quails, operations manager for Pacific Air, didn't know if the driver had already reported it to one of the company's multiple managers. He also said the Lakewood company, which provides heating and air conditioning services, would be in contact with Morgan.

"Pacific Air is the type of company that would take care of any damages or do whatever we need to do to correct anything that may have happened as a result of anything that we did," Quails said.

Morgan reported the damage to his landlord and to police. He said he also called the police and just before dark,  after seeing a minivan slide into the corner of Vernhardson and Milton Avenue, running over a power box in the process. No one lost power, however.

For residents along Vernhardson, weather-related spinouts and accidents are par for the course. Dave Cole has lived on the corner of North Harborview Drive and at the foot of Vernhardson for 10 years. If asked, he will tick off a long list of traffic incidents that he has seen over the years.

"I don't know of any other intersection that draws people out of their house to watch the action when it snows," he said. "If you try to stop, you just slide."

One year, Cole said he and neighbors brought shovels out to dig up some dirt to throw out onto the road to provide traction. Given the street's well-known dangers, he doesn't understand why the city doesn't sand Vernhardson and the North Harborview corner come winter time. Other than that, he doesn't know what the solution would be.

"It's a crazy corner," he said. "It's a problem."