Volvo drives down embankment at Dunkin’ drive-thru along N. Glebe Road (photo courtesy Amy H.)
Volvo drives down embankment at Dunkin’ drive-thru along N. Glebe Road (photo courtesy Amy H.)
Those in line to get coffee and donuts in the Buckingham neighborhood this morning were met with an unusual sight.
The driver of a white Volvo drove partially down an embankment next to the Dunkin’ drive-thru at 70 N. Glebe Road, becoming wedged between the sidewalk and the restaurant’s driveway. It’s not clear what led to the crash, though the drive-thru line is not typically associated with excess speed.
“I’m not sure what the story is or how the car ended up this way,” said a tipster, who called it an “odd scene.”
No emergency vehicles are seen in the photos above, which were taken around 7:45 a.m.
The Dunkin’ and its drive-thru lane opened in 2017, replacing a former KFC.
Changes coming to Boundary Channel Drive and I-395 interchange (image via VDOT)
Construction is starting next week to make Boundary Channel Drive and the I-395 interchange near Crystal City and the Pentagon safer.
The impact on locals should be “minimal,” Virginia Department of Transportation spokesperson Mike Murphy told ARLnow. While there could be lane closures, access to surrounding facilities will be kept open.
“Some day and overnight lane closures may be scheduled along I-395, Boundary Channel Drive, and Long Bridge Drive in the project area,” Murphy said. “Access to I-395 via Boundary Channel Drive, as well as access to Pentagon facilities and the Long Bridge Aquatics & Fitness Center will be maintained during construction.”
The long-planned $20 million project is set to reduce traffic lanes on Boundary Channel Drive to make room for paths and sidewalks, install roundabouts, reconfigure ramps, and add crosswalks.
The purpose of the renovations is to simplify traffic patterns and to make it safer for pedestrians, cyclists and drivers.
“We’ve long sought these improvements,” then-County Board Chair Matt de Ferranti said at a Board meeting last year when voting to approve the project. “They will reconfigure the interchange that you see to make it work a lot better and safer for everyone.”
The VDOT-led project is expected to be completed about a year from now, in fall 2023.
Crews will begin with work on Boundary Channel Drive, where both directions will be reduced to one lane to allow for the construction of the new roundabouts, utility work, and pedestrian improvements.
Those improvements include a path along the south side of Boundary Channel Drive, complete with crosswalks, landscaping, and street lighting.
The new shared-use path, varying in width between ten and twelve feet, will start at the Long Bridge Aquatic Center parking lot entrance. It will then follow Long Bridge Drive northbound before connecting with westbound Boundary Channel Drive, per Murphy. The half-mile-long path will pass under I-395 and turn north at the soon-to-be-built western Boundary Channel Drive interchange roundabout.
The new path will ultimately connect with the existing one that parallels the southbound George Washington Memorial Parkway ramp to I-395 southbound.
This project has been in the works since at least 2014 and is estimated to cost $19.6 million. It’s being paid for by a combination of state, federal, regional, and county money.
Major backup after GW Parkway blocked by crash (via Google Maps)
The northbound lanes of the GW Parkway were Friday afternoon blocked after reports of a “major” crash near the second scenic overlook.
The Arlington County Fire Department is among those that responded to the crash, south of Chain Bridge in Arlington. So far there’s no word on injuries nor the exact nature of the crash.
Northbound traffic was diverted onto Spout Run Parkway, but a significant number of drivers may have gotten stuck in the backup after Spout Run.
Drivers on the southbound GW Parkway were also seeing delays near the crash scene due to the emergency response.
Update at 1:50 p.m. — All lanes have reopened, according to U.S. Park Police.
Traffic Update: All lane closures on the GWMP have reopened.
A car is fully engulfed in flames behind Mrs. Chen’s Kitchen restaurant on Columbia Pike.
Firefighters are currently on the scene, on the 3100 block of the Pike, working to extinguish the vehicular inferno in the rear of the long-time Chinese eatery.
No injuries have been reported. The vehicle is said to be a gray BMW.
People picking up items from the left lanes of northbound I-395 after a vehicle overturned
Police and firefighters on scene of overturned vehicle on I-395
People picking up items from the left lanes of northbound I-395 after a vehicle overturned
Delays on northbound I-395 extend to Duke Street after a vehicle overturned near Shirlington Circle.
Traffic camera images show several people helping to clean up items that spilled from the vehicle in the left two lanes of the highway, as traffic slowly gets by. The overturned vehicle — possibly a pickup truck — is in the leftmost lane.
Firefighters just arrived on the scene and are reportedly evaluating two people for possible injuries. Three lanes are currently blocked.
The crash happened around 8 a.m. It’s not immediately clear whether it involved more than one vehicle.
Update at 9:10 a.m. — The crash scene has been cleared but residual delays remain.
A car fire has shut down all lanes of S. Fillmore Street just south of Route 50.
Firefighters are currently dousing the fire in the engine compartment of the sedan — possibly a Kia — with water.
The road will likely remain at least partially blocked until a wrecker can tow away the scorched vehicle.
In a separate vehicular incident, police and firefighters are currently responding to the area of the intersection of Langston Blvd and N. Harrison Street for a report of an elderly driver who ran into the column of a building.
Update at 6:30 p.m. — The following video from social media shows the vehicle that ran into a storefront at the Lee-Harrison Shopping Center being towed away.
Traffic stop shutting down WB Route 50 after reported gun brandishing
A road rage incident that allegedly involved a gun has temporarily shut down all westbound lanes of Route 50.
Around 1 p.m. police received a 911 call reporting that someone in a vehicle had brandished a gun and threatened the occupants of another vehicle during some sort of road rage dispute. One of the drivers followed the other driver until police caught up with them at the intersection with N. Irving Street, according to scanner traffic.
Several people in the suspect vehicle have been detained while police sort everything out. No injuries have been reported.
At least one lane of westbound traffic is being reopened, though the right-hand lane is expected to remain closed while police investigate.
Watch: @ArlingtonVaPD with guns drawn stopping a car a short time ago on Route 50 West at Irving St. Police had a report someone in the car was showing a gun in a threatening manner. The person who called 911 followed the car until police caught up. @ARLnowDOTcom#police#crimepic.twitter.com/id5Fx93Wqs
Virginia State Police vehicle (photo by John Calhoun/JC Photography)
An Alexandria man has died after a crash last week on I-395 in Arlington.
The single-vehicle crash happened around 1:30 a.m. Friday. The driver was ejected from the vehicle and later died from his injuries.
More from Virginia State Police:
At 1:28 a.m. on Friday (June 10), Virginia State Police responded to a single-vehicle crash on the on-ramp from southbound Washington Blvd. to southbound I-395.
A 2014 Chevrolet Camaro was on the ramp when it ran off the left side of the road, struck a curb and overturned.
The driver, Jose T. Villanueva, 31, of Alexandria, Va., was transported to George Washington Hospital where he succumbed to his injuries. He was not wearing a seatbelt and was ejected from the vehicle.
Speed and alcohol are being investigated as a contributing factor in the crash. The crash remains under investigation.
Several lanes of southbound I-395 were closed during the overnight hours as a result of the crash.
MD #Arlington I-395 SB near VA-27/Washington Blvd (x8), crash & response. 1 left lane gets by. #vatraffic#dctraffic Listen live to WTOP's latest traffic reports every 10 minutes on the 8s. https://t.co/k7ONQAzTiR
Old Dominion Drive is closed after a crash involving an overturned vehicle.
The two-vehicle crash was reported around 4 p.m. at the intersection of Old Dominion Drive and 23rd Street N., a few blocks south of Marymount University.
The circumstances leading to the crash are unclear, but it left a Honda SUV flipped on its roof. No serious injuries were reported.
The road remains closed during the evening rush hour due to the cleanup effort.
A driver merging across four lanes of I-395 traffic, hitting a truck (image via @STATter911/Twitter)
A driver holds up traffic on I-395 in order to access the Route 1 exit (image via @STATter911/Twitter)
A crash on I-395 caused by a driver crossing multiple lanes while trying to get to the Route 1 exit (image via @STATter911/Twitter)
A bus driver cuts off a car while attempting a late merge onto the Route 1 exit (image via @STATter911/Twitter)
Aftermath of a driver merging across four lanes of I-395 traffic and hitting a truck, before driving off (image via @STATter911/Twitter)
Wonky GPS directions and old road design are some of the factors that have led some drivers to haphazardly cross several lanes of highway traffic at an I-395 exit, leading to multiple crashes.
Videos, captured from a Crystal City high-rise apartment by former local news reporter Dave Statter, show drivers consistently and dangerously moving across four lanes of southbound I-395 traffic specifically to make the lefthand Route 1 exit (8C).
The situation is at its most perilous when a driver is coming from Boundary Channel Drive, takes the I-395 southbound on-ramp, and realizes the exit to Pentagon City, Crystal City and Alexandria is only a few hundred feet on the left. Meaning, in order to take it, the driver has to move their car over four lanes of high speed highway traffic in a very short distance.
Some of the numerous videos Statter posts look something like a real-life game of Frogger.
“Watching these people doing this crazy dance to get to the left hand exit,” Statter says. “It’s just a constant, constant thing.”
Even when we are talking, Statter spots two more drivers attempting to make the same maneuver, despite the fact that VDOT had recently put up a line of orange barrels in an attempt to prevent it.
He also seen plenty of drivers entering I-395 southbound from further down, like the onramp from the GW Parkway, but still realizing too late that they need to take exit 8C on the left.
Since Statter started training his cameras on this section of I-395 back in November, he says he has caught upwards of 18 accidents. All of which involve drivers trying to quickly take the left hand exit.
Statter says that part of the issue here is the design of the roads and the Pentagon, which was built nearly 70 years ago.
“There’s a lot of on-ramps in such a short period of time,” he says. “[It’s my impression] that’s not the standard for interstate highways of today.”
But a culprit also appears to be modern technology. At least until recently, app-based GPS directions like Google Maps and Apple Maps were telling drivers to engage in this dangerous lane-shifting.
LOCATION: NB George Washington Pkwy south of Fort Marcy INCIDENT: Traffic Collision IMPACT: The NB lanes of George Washington Pkwy are reopened. pic.twitter.com/USlFg0zmrn
Earlier: Northbound lanes of the GW Parkway are closed for an investigation after a serious crash.
The crash happened along the Parkway, just north of N. Glebe Road, around 5:30 p.m.
One person was trapped in a vehicle and rescued by firefighters. They were brought via ambulance to a local hospital.
The northbound lanes were still closed as of 6:15 p.m. and are expected to remain closed for an extended period of time for a crash investigation, according to U.S. Park Police. Traffic is being diverted onto Spout Run Parkway.
Units are on scene of a vehicle crash NB GW PKWY prior to N. Glebe Rd. Expect significant traffic impacts both North and South as crews operate. pic.twitter.com/lqAthnsuqj
— Arlington Fire & EMS (@ArlingtonVaFD) June 2, 2022
#Final – the patient has been extricated and is being transported to an area hospital. Units from ACFD and @ffxfirerescue are in the process of clearing the scene.
— Arlington Fire & EMS (@ArlingtonVaFD) June 2, 2022
Traffic alert: Northbound George Washington Memorial Parkway diverted at Spout Run Parkway for a traffic crash investigation.
