Traffic

Officials Warn of Flashing Lights on 14th Street Bridge

By ARLnow.com

The flashing lights on the 14th Street Bridge tonight are not a sign there’s a dance party happening over the Potomac River. Rather, the lights will be flickering on and off as part of the on-going 14th Street Bridge Rehabilitation Project.

DDOT and PEPCO say they’ll be testing power circuits on the bridge between midnight and 2:00 a.m. They’re warning that the testing “will cause streetlights and overhead sign lights to turn off at various times throughout the test period.”

All three spans — northbound, southbound and HOV — will be affected.

The timing, it seems, is a bit unfortunate. The testing will be taking place just as many party-goers start leaving bars and clubs in the District to return home to Virginia.

“Travelers are urged to slow down and use caution on the bridge and the impacted streets during the outage,” Arlington County’s Office of Emergency Management advised this morning.

Major Delays on I-395 Due to Fire in D.C.

By ARLnow.com

The main lanes of I-395 are backed up in Virginia from the 14th Street Bridge to the Springfield interchange due to fire activity in the District.

A fire at the Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center prompted a large emergency response that shut down 14th Street between Constitution Avenue and Pennsylvania Avenue. The fire, which originated in the building’s kitchen and spread through the ductwork, is now under control. Fire equipment has been clearing the scene and 14th Street will likely reopen soon — but that’s little solace to the thousands currently crawling along on I-395.

The good news, if any, is that the HOV lanes are clear until just past the Pentagon.

TRAFFIC ALERT — Glebe Road Shut Down at Route 50

By ARLnow.com

Update at 7:50 p.m. — All lane closures except one northbound lane on Glebe Road have been lifted.

Both directions of Glebe Road have been shut down and one lane of westbound Route 50 has been blocked due to chunks of concrete falling off the overpass.

ARLnow.com is hearing that officials were notified earlier this week that debris fell off the bridge and struck a vehicle on Sunday. No one was hurt, we hear. No word on what action, if any, was taken after that incident.

Arlington’s Most Dangerous On-Ramps

By ARLnow.com

(Updated at 3:35 p.m.) For some reason, a number of highway and arterial road on-ramps in Arlington County seem to have been designed with little consideration to driver safety.

Whether they’re positioned just after a bend in the highway, obstructing the view of on-coming vehicles, or whether there’s precious little room for drivers entering the highway to get up to speed with on-coming traffic — or both — we’ve picked the following four on-ramps as the most dangerous in Arlington.

We know there are others out there. Feel free to make your most dangerous on-ramp nominations in the comments section.

Ramp from Courthouse Road to westbound Route 50 — Whether it’s the big pillar to your right or the non-stop, fast-moving traffic to your left, getting on to westbound Route 50 from Courthouse Road is not an easy task. This interchange is being redesigned — but the construction workers running across the road and the dump trucks entering the highway are only adding to the problem.

Ramp from northbound Washington Blvd to westbound Route 50 — Drivers on this ramp sometimes don’t seem to know they have to yield to on-coming traffic on Route 50. If they were expecting some room to get up to speed and merge, they were mistaken. Drivers on Route 50 routinely had to get out of the way of merging traffic, causing a hazard. Plus, Route 50 bends just before the on-ramp, causing a visibility problem for drivers who stop to yield to on-coming vehicles.

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County Emerges Victorious As State Gives Up HOT Lanes Plan

By ARLnow.com

(Updated at 10:35 a.m.) Arlington County has emerged victorious from its $1.5 million legal battle with the state over the plan to build High Occupancy Toll lanes on I-395.

Virginia Transportation Secretary Sean Connaughton announced today that the state is no longer pursuing its I-395 HOT lanes plan, which the county blocked by filing suit in 2009. VDOT is also canceling plans to upgrade the Shirlington and Eads Street interchanges.

Just hours before the project’s demise was first revealed by the Washington Post, County Board Chairman Chris Zimmerman sent a five-page letter to two top Virginia lawmakers further explaining Arlington’s effort to block the HOT lanes project.

Zimmerman questioned the wisdom of handing the state’s existing HOV lanes over to a foreign company for decades while getting what he described as relatively little in return. Zimmerman argued that the I-395 HOT lanes plan was poorly-designed, could exacerbate traffic congestion and could cause “great harm to the people that we and you represent in Northern Virginia.”

Addressing the lawsuit’s critics, Zimmerman wrote that “carrying on overheated diatribes through the news media is not conductive to conciliation.” He disputed the oft-repeated charge regarding the lawsuit’s insistence that minority populations would be adversely affected by HOT lanes, saying that “Arlington has never called anyone racist.”

Per the charge that Arlington was acting unscrupulously by suing two government officials in their personal capacity, Zimmerman noted that the officials “are of course provided legal representation through government general liability coverage.”

Even though Arlington’s HOT lanes fight is likely coming to a close, the lawsuit may continue to cost the county in the form of ill will in Richmond. As we previously reported, one Fairfax County lawmaker has effectively killed a bill that would renew Arlington’s hotel tax surcharge, which provides about $1 million per year for tourism promotion. Del. Tim Hugo (R) cited the costly HOT lanes suit as evidence that Arlington didn’t need the extra tax revenues.

VDOT Trucks Staging for Possible Freezing Rain Tonight

By ARLnow.com

After last Wednesday’s wintry weather caused a traffic disaster of truly epic proportions, VDOT is wasting no time warning drivers of the light freezing rain predicted tonight.

“Another bout of sleet and freezing rain is expected after 7 p.m., and the Virginia Department of Transportation urges motorists to be alert to changing road conditions in northern Virginia tonight,” VDOT said in a statement. “With rain, sleet, and freezing temperatures also forecasted for 4 a.m. tomorrow, drivers are asked to monitor forecasts carefully and postpone or limit travel during the morning rush.”

To help keep roadways clear, the agency has 1,600 trucks staging along Northern Virginia roadways.

By 3 p.m. today, about 1,600 trucks will begin staging along interstates and major roads throughout Arlington, Fairfax, Loudoun and Prince William counties for quick response.

Crews pre-treated trouble spots today on interstates 66, 95, 395, and 495—including bridges and ramps prone to freezing such as the Springfield interchange, I-66 at Route 29 and the Capital Beltway interchange at Route 1—with liquid magnesium chloride. Problem spots on other major roads, such as the Fairfax County Parkway and routes 1, 7, 28, 29, 50 and 123, were pre-treated with salt brine.

Although forecasters say tonight’s freezing rain should be light, they also caution that some slick spots could develop, particularly in the early morning hours. A separate threat of wintry weather on Tuesday night/Wednesday morning is expected to produce mostly rain in Arlington and the District, according to the Capital Weather Gang.

GW Parkway Reopened As Crews Clear Abandoned Cars

By ARLnow.com

Closed since it was the scene of a “bumper-car graveyard” last night, one lane of the northbound George Washington Parkway has finally reopened near Spout Run.

The road was closed for most of the morning as crews worked to clear snow, fallen trees and abandoned vehicles.

G.W. Parkway drivers spent up to 14 hours in their cars, from yesterday afternoon to early this morning, as fallen trees and collisions blocked the roadway in both directions.

“I have a friend who has been there since 5pm. She says cops are walking up and down, people are huddling together in cars,” a Twitter user told us just before 11:00 last night. There were reports of cars running out of gas and of people simply getting out of their cars and walking.

U.S. Park Police spokesman Sgt. David Schlosser tells WTOP that the Parkway was jammed due to a “cascading effect – crashes, trees coming down, people abandoning their vehicles.”

One woman who had been stuck on the Parkway told NBC Washington that she made it home at 5:30 this morning, after leaving her Crystal City office at 4:45 p.m.

Abandoned cars are being towed to the parking lots at the scenic overlook and Roosevelt Island.

Dr. Gridlock has more information on how to retrieve an abandoned vehicle.

Photo courtesy Steve Buttry.

BREAKING NEWS — Motorists Still Stranded on GW Parkway, I-66

By ARLnow.com

(Updated at 11:00 p.m.) The snow has stopped falling, but hundreds of motorists are still stranded on area roads and highways.

Drivers have been stuck on the George Washington Parkway for 5-6 hours now, according to various reports from Twitter.

The fact that there are no traffic cameras along the parkway has made it difficult to see exactly what’s going on, but Twitter users are reporting that downed trees are blocking all northbound and southbound lanes.

“My mother’s been there for 6 hours,” said one user.

“Talking to friend still stuck on parkway since 4:30 PM just past CIA exit going south,” said another.

“I have a friend who has been there since 5pm. She says cops are walking up and down, people are huddling together in cars,” said yet another.

Westbound I-66, meanwhile, has been at a virtual standstill since about 7:00 p.m.

Icy conditions and numerous accidents have made the two-lane highway impassable for much of the night.

“It’s been incredibly difficult getting equipment to trouble spots due to the heavy congestion but I believe it is being cleared and traffic is slowly moving now,” said VDOT spokeswoman Joan Morris.

Currently, there’s a large backup before the Rosslyn tunnel. Traffic is moving along single file past 21st Street, with a stalled car blocking the left-hand lane.

Earlier, Virginia State Police spokeswoman Corinne Geller said the reason why it was taking so long to get traffic moving was because the traffic itself was preventing crews from treating the roadway.

“There are vehicles that are stuck, and you have to get the vehicles out of the way before you can get the snow plows through to clear the road,” Geller said. “The shoulders aren’t wide enough, there’s not enough space to get the VDOT trucks through to treat roadways. So you have to clear the road, then get the trucks through to treat it. Then, as soon as you get it treated, more cars come through, someone loses control and it starts all over again.”

Geller said Virginia State Police responded to calls for 106 disabled vehicles and 56 crashes in Northern Virginia between 5:00 and 10:00 p.m.

At one point, Geller said, a state trooper was struck and knocked over by an out-of-control car on I-66 near Glebe Road. The trooper was not hurt and remained on the job, she said.

BREAKING NEWS — Bus Service Ending Early, Standstill on I-66, Widespread Power Outages

By ARLnow.com

Update at 10:00 p.m. — Traffic started moving again on I-66 for a few minutes, but is now back at a standstill.

Update at 10:00 p.m. — There are now more than 13,400 Dominion customers without power in Arlington.

Heavy, wet snow is continuing to fall in the area, knocking down trees and power lines and grinding traffic to a halt.

As a result of road conditions, Arlington Transit has announced that it will be discontinuing ART bus service at 9:00 p.m. Meanwhile, Metrobus service will end at 9:30 p.m.

Traffic on westbound I-66 has been at a standstill from Rosslyn to Spout Run for at least one three hours. Hundreds of motorists are stranded in the snow. Many have turned off their car to save gas.

More than 10,000 Dominion customers are without power in Arlington. On Twitter, residents of nearly every Arlington zip code have reported flickering lights.

Dozens of reports of downed trees and power lines are coming in. Many are reporting transformers and trees on fire. One tree in the area of Marymount University fell on a house, but no injuries were reported.

Arlington County reports that it has 45 plows out clearing roads. Crews will be working throughout the night, the county says.

Traffic Slows to a Crawl as Snow Covers Roads

By ARLnow.com

Update at 7:25 p.m. — A downed tree has completely blocked westbound Lee Highway near HB Woodlawn. Separately, a tow truck is on the way to assist a stranded ambulance on Washington Boulevard near the Navy Annex.

Update at 7:00 p.m. — Downed power lines and falling tree limbs are being reported throughout the area. Dominion is reporting more than 1,200 customers without power in Arlington. Dominion spokeswoman Le-Ha Anderson tells WUSA 9 that it may take more time than usual to restore power due to gridlock on local streets and highways.

Update at 6:10 p.m. — Traffic is at a dead stop on westbound I-66 from the District to Spout Run.

Update at 5:40 pm. — Stranded vehicles are being reported on Glebe Road near Chain Bridge and at Washington Boulevard and I-395.

Update at 5:30 p.m. — Treacherous conditions are reported on parts of Carlin Springs Road and Patrick Henry Drive. Via a traffic camera (above) we witnessed a car slide down Carlin Springs near Route 50 and nearly strike a pole. The car was eventually able to reverse and continue on its way.

Update at 5:15 p.m. — Westbound Washington Boulevard has been shut down at Sycamore Street.

Traffic throughout the county has slowed to a crawl as roads become increasingly snow-covered and as nightfall sets in.

Southbound I-395, westbound I-66, southbound Route 1, westbound Route 50, westbound Columbia Pike, Washington Boulevard and Glebe Road are jammed.

Numerous accidents have been reported throughout the county. Numerous hills have been reported to be impassable.

Police and firefighters report being delayed responding to calls due to heavy traffic.

Emergency responders have now been instructed to put chains on their tires to improve traction.

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Traffic Grows Thick as Roads Get Slick

By ARLnow.com

Highways leading out of the District of Columbia are thick with traffic as a steady rain starts to change over to a slippery mix of sleet and snow.

Southbound I-395 and westbound I-66 are both jammed.

Meanwhile, police and firefighters are on the scene of a two-vehicle collision on northbound I-395 just before Shirlington.

Update at 3:55 p.m. — Heavy congestion reported on Washington Boulevard from Clarendon to I-395.

Update at 4:15 p.m. — Firefighters are on the scene of a two-vehicle crash on Columbia Pike at South Frederick Street.

Update at 4:25 p.m. — Roads are quickly becoming snow-covered. Reports are coming in of cars becoming stuck on hills.

Update at 5:15 p.m. — We’re now providing snow and traffic updates on a new post.

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