Traffic

Part of Glebe Road Closed Due to Gas Line Rupture

By ARLnow.com
1/6

(Updated at 3:20 p.m.) Glebe Road has been temporarily closed south of Columbia Pike due to a gas leak.

Initial reports suggest a road construction crew struck an unmarked 2-inch gas line, rupturing it.

Police and firefighters have closed the stretch of Glebe between Columbia Pike and 12th Street S. to traffic while crews work to shut off the gas. There’s a strong smell of natural gas in the area, and pedestrians are being limited to one side of the street.

Drivers, particularly those heading northbound on Glebe, should expect delays in the area. Northbound drivers are advised to use Walter Reed Drive as an alternate route.

Police say they expect the road to remain closed until at least 4:00 p.m.

Driver Apprehended After Hit and Run Near DMV

By ARLnow.com
1/5

A suspect is in custody after a hit-and-run accident near the Department of Motor Vehicles office on S. Four Mile Run Drive.

A witness told ARLnow.com that the driver of a Nissan was trying to turn into the DMV parking lot from the westbound lanes of Four Mile Run Drive when the car was struck by a truck heading eastbound.

The driver of one of the vehicles fled the scene on foot after the accident, according to Arlington Police spokesman Dustin Sternbeck. The other driver was injured and transported to the hospital.

A police K-9 officer was brought in to track the fleeing driver. The dog picked up the scent and led officers to nearby Wakefield High School. The suspect was located and arrested behind the school, Sternbeck said.

Sternbeck was unable to confirm which vehicle belongs to the fleeing driver, who’s expected to be charged with hit and run.

Photos courtesy Brian Kee

Detour for WB Route 50 This Weekend

By Ethan Rothstein

10th Street Bridge over Route 50, closed for demolitionWestbound Route 50 between 14th Street and N. Pershing Drive will be closed this Saturday and Sunday for construction.

The Virginia Department of Transportation announced that a detour will be in effect from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. July 27 and 28. Drivers will exit onto 14th Street, which becomes 15th Street, turn right at Courthouse Road, left at Wilson Boulevard, left at N. Barton Street, left at 10th Street back to westbound Route 50.

The road closure will allow VDOT crews to erect steel beams for the new Courthouse Road bridge. The old bridge was torn down in January as part of the $39 million Route 50/Courthouse Road/10th Street interchange project.

The project is expected to be completed in mid-2014, VDOT said.

Car Overturns on Lee Highway Near Rosslyn

By Ethan Rothstein
1/5

A car flipped on its roof on the eastbound lanes of Lee Highway this afternoon, sending at least one person to the hospital.

The accident happened between N. Nash and Quinn Streets, near Rosslyn, around 3:30 p.m. today (Friday). The late model Toyota Corolla somehow overturned, coming to rest in the left-hand lane of the three-lane thoroughfare.

One person was transported from the scene in an ambulance while police closed the two left lanes. A Bergmann’s Cleaning truck remained on scene while its driver gave statements to Arlington County police officers. It’s unclear whether the truck was involved in the accident or if the driver was being interviewed as a witness.

The car lost its right rear wheel in the crash, and the area around its left rear tire was stripped of paint in the accident.

Heat Takes Toll on Pike Super Stop

By ARLnow.com

Note on the bus arrival screen at the Walter Reed Super StopThis week’s sweltering and dangerous heatwave has taken a toll on the bus arrival screen at the $1 million Super Stop on Columbia Pike.

The screen is currently out of service, with a large note apologizing for the problem.

“Due to the extreme temperatures, our monitor displaying bus arrivals is not operational,” the sign says. “We are working on the problem.”

Arlington County spokeswoman Laura G. Smith says technicians have ordered a new cooling fan for the display.

“It should be fixed within the next two weeks,” she said. In the meantime, the sign has instructions telling bus riders how to look up bus arrival times on their smartphone.

County Board Approves Lower Speed Limits

By Ethan Rothstein

New speed limits on Clarendon BlvdThe County Board unanimously approved lowering the speed limits on key stretches of Wilson Blvd, Clarendon Blvd, N. Sycamore Street and N. Meade Street Tuesday evening.

The Board acted in line with its Master Transportation Plan in lowering the speed limits on the key local arteries.

The speed limit on Wilson Blvd and Clarendon Blvd was lowered from 30 to 25 mph between Rosslyn and Washington Blvd.

Meanwhile, the speed limit on N. Meade Street was lowered from 30 to 25 mph between Arlington Blvd and Marshall Drive., while N. Sycamore Street from Washington Blvd. to 17th Street N. will see its speed limit drop from 35 to 30 mph.

The change in speed limit is effective immediately, and county staff said they expect the signs reflecting the change to be installed Wednesday.

“The county’s actions to lower speed limits on segments of some key roads are in keeping with the Master Transportation plan, and are intended to make these roads safer for everyone — drivers, pedestrians and cyclists,” said Board Chair Walter Tejada.

The Board also put a public hearing on the agenda for its Sept. 21 meeting to hear public feedback for lowering the speed limits on N. Lynn and Fort Myer Drive between the Key Bridge and Arlington Blvd. from 30 to 25 mph.

As part of the same resolution, the Board changed the County Code to reflect Virginia Department of Transportation’s imposed speed limits on I-66 and I-395. The speed limits of the roads were not changed but, for instance, the code will now officially reflect that I-66 is a 45 mph road between the Virginia state line and N. Lynn Street and 55 mph between N. Lynn Street and Fairfax County.

Two Hurt in East Falls Church Wreck

By ARLnow.com
1/5

Police are investigating a four-vehicle crash in East Falls Church.

The crash happened around 3:00 p.m. at the intersection of Lee Highway and Sycamore Street. A witness told ARLnow.com that the accident was caused when one of the drivers tried to make an ill-advised U-turn. Police on the scene tell us he’s being charged with reckless driving.

A technical rescue crew responded to the scene to help extricate a driver trapped in their vehicle after the wreck. The jaws of life were used to remove the car’s doors.

Two people were hurt and transported to Virginia Hospital Center as a result of the accident.

Investigators are taking photos of the scene. Lee Highway is currently open, but the northbound lanes of Sycamore Street are still blocked. Drivers should expect delays in the area.

Key Bridge Shut Down Due to Police Activity

By ARLnow.com

Key Bridge closed for bomb threat

Update at 11:50 a.m. — All lanes are now back open.

Update at 11:35 a.m. — The Key Bridge is being reopened, D.C. police said via Twitter. Traffic is currently flowing from the D.C. to Virginia side of the bridge, but so far the inbound lanes have not reopened. NBC Washington is reporting that the closure was due to a phoned-in bomb threat.

Earlier: Police have closed the Key Bridge to vehicle and pedestrian traffic due to police activity on the D.C. side.

News outlets have alternately reported the closure is due to a suspicious package or a bomb threat.

No word yet on when the bridge might reopen.

AAA: Furloughs May Ease Traffic Congestion

By Katie Pyzyk

Heavy traffic on I-395 near the Pentagon (file photo)Department of Defense furloughs went into effect today and AAA Mid-Atlantic suggests that may mean less traffic congestion.

In Virginia alone, nearly 72,000 DoD employees are affected by furloughs, which require one unpaid day off per week for 11 weeks. The state is expected to be particularly hard hit by the cuts due to the Pentagon being housed in Arlington.

It’s too early to definitively claim furloughs will ease traffic congestion, but AAA believes fewer people on the road could lead to less gridlock and fewer accidents. In fact, the organization suggests commutes could resemble those of July and August, when the region experiences its lowest traffic volume and rate of accidents.

“For all other workers, the morning and evening commutes to the daily grind could look like it does on any of the ten federal holidays in the Washington metro area or on Fridays, when federal workers use their flex-time schedules or compressed work weeks (AWS) to take time off,” said John B. Townsend II, AAA Mid-Atlantic’s Manager of Public and Government Affairs.

AAA predicts Metrorail and Metrobus ridership may be affected as well. According to WMATA, nearly half of peak period commuters are federal employees and 35 Metrorail stations serve federal facilities, including the Pentagon in Arlington.

Rep. Jim Moran (D) took to Twitter earlier today to express his displeasure with the furloughs. He also sent the following statement to ARLnow.com:

“Due to sequestration, today marked the first of 11 furlough days for 650,000 DOD civilian employees. This 20 percent pay cut is the unfortunate and shameful result of Congress’ failure to work together to find an appropriate way to reduce the federal debt and deficit. I voted against the Budget Control Act that set up sequestration not only because it focused solely on cutting discretionary spending at the expense of increased revenues, but I feared that the Supercommittee could not find compromise. Congress must make tough choices, but we cannot balance the budget on the backs of our federal workers.”

TRAFFIC ALERT: Intersection Closed in Crystal City Due to Gas Line Break

By ARLnow.com
1/8

Update at 4:45 p.m. — Firefighters report that the gas has been shut off. Police are attempting to open up a lane of traffic through the intersection.

Earlier: A gas line break may snarl the drive home for some Crystal City commuters.

The four-way intersection of Long Bridge Drive, Crystal Drive, Clark Street and 12th Street S. is currently closed to traffic while Washington Gas crews try to shut the gas off. Police and firefighters are on the scene, and streets leading to the intersection have been closed to through traffic.

“Expect major residual delays and avoid this area if possible, as repairs are expected to last several hours,” the county said in an Arlington Alert email.

The leak is in a large 8-inch gas line and there’s a strong odor of natural gas in the area around it. The break is causing gas to loudly bubble up through standing rainwater in the middle of the intersection.

Road construction crews were seen working on the intersection and on parts of Long Bridge Drive earlier this morning.

Board to Consider Decreasing Speed Limits

By Katie Pyzyk

Stretch of Wilson Blvd and Clarendon Blvd in Courthouse (photo via Google Maps)The County Board may decide to decrease speed limits on a number of roads throughout Arlington, including the main thoroughfares from Rosslyn to Clarendon. Board members are scheduled to take up the issue at their meeting on Saturday (July 13).

The Department of Environmental Services conducted studies to examine the viability of changing speed limits on several streets. Information was gathered regarding factors such as vehicle speeds, collisions, traffic volumes, pedestrian and bicyclist activity and development patterns. Studies were performed in the following areas: N. Meade Street from Arlington Blvd to Marshall Drive (formerly Jackson Avenue), Clarendon Blvd from Washington Blvd to N. Oak Street, Wilson Blvd from Route 110 to Washington Blvd, and N. Sycamore Street from Washington Blvd to 17th Street N. and N. Roosevelt Street from 17th Street N. to the county line.

The studies indicated that speed limits along N. Meade Street, Clarendon Blvd and Wilson Blvd could be decreased from 30 miles per hour to 25 miles per hour. The N. Sycamore Street/N. Roosevelt Street studies indicated the speed limit could be lowered from 35 miles per hour to 30 miles per hour.

Arlington’s Master Transportation Plan includes a policy to design streets with lower vehicle speeds without impeding or diverting traffic. Part of that involves adopting a 25 mile per hour speed limit in the county’s “downtown” areas where pedestrian traffic is high, such as along Wilson Blvd and Clarendon Blvd.

The Board also has been asked to authorize the correction of speed limit discrepancies along parts of I-395 and I-66. According to VDOT records, the speed in the regular lanes of I-395 from Alexandria to D.C. is 55 miles per hour. The county code, however, was recently discovered to list a portion of the segment as 35 miles per hour, and that the entire segment is 55 miles per hour. There is a similar discrepancy between county code and VDOT records regarding the HOV lanes. Additionally, the county code does not include speed limits for I-66, but VDOT lists the limits at 45 miles per hour and 55 miles per hour, depending on the section in question.

County staff members recommend Board approval for the speed limit discrepancy corrections and for decreasing the speeds along the four stretches of county roads.

The cost of installing new speed limit signs to reflect the changes is estimated to be $5,000. Funds are available in the Fiscal Year 2014 Department of Environmental Services Transportation Engineering and Operations operating budget.

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