GW Parkway

Car Catches Fire After GW Parkway Crash

By ARLnow.com

Update at 4:10 p.m. — All lanes have reopened but traffic is moving very slowly, according to the U.S. Park Police Twitter account.

Several people were injured after a car ran off the GW Parkway and into a ravine, then caught fire.

The crash happened around 3:00 p.m., in the northbound lanes just after Memorial Bridge. As of 3:25 p.m., both lanes of the northbound GW Parkway were blocked by emergency vehicles near the crash site.

Initial reports suggest the car occupants were still trapped in the vehicle when it started to catch fire in the ravine. They were apparently pulled out of the wreckage and three people are now being treated by paramedics. Firefighters were able to quickly extinguish the car fire.

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.

Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com

Arlington is One of Country’s Richest Counties — Well, here’s one way Arlington is a “green” county — its residents are loaded with cash. So says Newsweek, which ranks Arlington the #5 richest county in the nation. Seven of the top ten richest counties are in the DC area. More from DCist.

Charges Pending Against Driver in Davies Wreck — The young woman who was driving the car that crashed last October on the George Washington Parkway, killing one woman and severely injuring U.S. soccer star Charlie Davies, is expected to be charged with involuntary manslaughter. Investigators believe Maria Espinoza of Clarksville was intoxicated when her SUV careened across a grassy area near Memorial Bridge and struck a guardrail, nearly splitting it in half, according to the Washington Post.

Washington-Lee Bests Yorktown in Football Playoffs — Washington-Lee defeated Yorktown High 28 to 7 on Friday night. With the win, the Generals (6-5) will advance to the next round of the playoffs, facing Hayfield (7-4) on Friday. Washington-Lee played Hayfield in September and won 23-7. More from the Sun Gazette.

Flickr pool photo by Team Rank

Long-Sought Arlington Boathouse May Become a Reality

By ARLnow.com

Thanks to shifting political winds and dogged determination, the decades-long quest to get a boathouse built on the Arlington side of the Potomac may finally result in action on the part of the federal government.

The National Park Service is expected to launch an extensive environmental and historical impact study for potential boathouse locations in the next several months, the first step in what is expected to be a lengthy but, at last, finite process.

The impact study would likely wrap up by the end of 2011. If it the boathouse then gets the go-ahead, and if funding can be secured for the project, the Park Service would seek bids for the planning, building and daily operation of the boathouse.

In other words, don’t hold your breath.

“We’re still a very, very long way away from the finish line, even if it is approved,” said Brian Stout, Arlington County’s federal government liaison. “There will be a lot of issues for them to study.”

The Park Service is a central player in the boathouse process because it controls most of the riverfront land in Arlington County. The Park Service would be responsible for building and running the boathouse, but county leaders hope the agency would allow “robust community and public access” to the facility. Among the local groups chomping at the bit for a new boathouse are Arlington’s three public high school rowing teams (Yorktown, Washington-Lee and Wakefield), which currently pay for access to crowded boating facilities in the District.

Stout says the county hopes the Park Service would choose to build the boathouse just north the the Roosevelt Island parking lot, near the pedestrian access from the Mount Vernon Trail to Key Bridge. That part of the river is uniquely suited for rowing facilities, he said.

(more…)

Serious Accident Shuts Down Northbound GW Parkway

By ARLnow.com

The northbound George Washington Parkway has been shut down at Spout Run due to a vehicle that skidded off the road and slammed into a tree.

One southbound lane is being blocked by a fire truck. Northbound traffic is being diverted onto Spout Run.

The closures are causing major traffic problems, prompting Arlington County to issue an email alert.

The prolonged closure, with accident investigators on the scene, is usually a sign that at least one person has died or is in grave condition.

Road Closures to Avoid This Weekend

By ARLnow.com

A number of road closures will play havoc with traffic in Arlington this weekend.

The Four Courts Four Miler kicks off at 9:00 a.m. Saturday morning. Police will shut down Wilson Blvd from Courthouse Road to North Rhodes Street from 7:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. Wilson Blvd from North Rhodes Street to Route 110 in Rosslyn will be closed at 8:45 a.m. Northbound Route 110 from Rosslyn to Route 1 in Crystal City will be shut down from 8:30 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. Click here for a map.

Cars parked along the route will be ticketed and towed. Race participants are urged to use Metro. The Courthouse station is a short distance from the starting line.

Chain Bridge will be completely closed to traffic and pedestrians all weekend. That is, unless the predicted rain prevents reconstruction work on the bridge deck from taking place, which is a distinct possibility. If work goes on as scheduled, expect Chain Bridge to remain closed from Friday night to early Monday morning.

“Motorists are advised to use alternate routes and river crossings including the American Legion, Key, Roosevelt, Memorial and 14th Street Bridges,” VDOT said of the Chain Bridge closure, in a statement.

Finally, the ongoing Humpback Bridge replacement project will result in lane closures during the day on Saturday. One lane of the George Washington Parkway from Memorial Bridge to I-395 will be closed in each direction from 7:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.

Moran Issues Statement on DOT Furloughs

By ARLnow.com

Arlington’s U.S. Rep. Jim Moran (D-VA) has issued a statement on the Senate filibuster that has resulted in 2,000 Department of Transportation employees being furloughed today. The furloughs have forced a number of federally-funded road construction projects, including the George Washington Parkway Humpback Bridge project, to temporarily shut down.

Here’s Rep. Moran’s statement:

Critical government programs and transportation projects are being held captive to the political posturing of a single individual in the U.S. Senate.

Key federal construction projects already underway in Virginia – including the $36 million project to replace the Humpback Bridge on the George Washington Parkway – remain at a standstill, with hundreds of workers off the job due to the furloughing of federal inspectors.

I urge the Senate to quickly address this political malfeasance so our vital transportation projects can get back on track and those struggling to find a job aren’t left out in the cold.