A Jeep rolled on its side after a T-bone collision at the busy section of King Street and South Walter Reed Drive/Beauregard Street.
The accident and the resulting emergency response by Arlington and Alexandria units snarled lunchtime traffic in all directions.
A White Top taxi cab was also involved in the accident. It’s unclear if there were any injuries.
Update at 8:55 a.m. — Both westbound lanes have been reopened. Traffic is starting to move again.
Update at 8:40 a.m. — Almost an hour after the accident, only one lane is getting by. A tow truck has just arrived and should be clearing most of the lanes shortly. Traffic is now backing up to the Rosslyn tunnel.
Traffic is backed up on westbound I-66 from Sycamore Street to North Scott Street due to a multi-car accident.
Arlington police and paramedics are on the scene of a five-car accident on the highway’s westbound lanes near Sycamore Street. At least one injury has been reported.
The accident has slowed traffic to a crawl over much of westbound I-66 inside the Beltway.
Hat tip to @katekirk
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.
Talk to Virginia State Police, and part of the reason yesterday devolved into absolute gridlock has to do with everybody hitting the road at one time.
With the federal government getting out only two hours early, the roadways were already jammed with traffic as heavy snow started to fall around 4:00 p.m.
“Instead of having a staggered rush hour, like you typically do, you had everybody leaving at the same time… right as the storm hit,” said state police spokeswoman Corinne Geller. “Roads started deteriorating rapidly, and the vehicles started sliding into one another.”
Then, as gridlock set in, a new problem cropped up.
“The greatest challenge for clearing the interstates Wednesday evening in Northern Virginia was the sheer volume of abandoned vehicles,” Geller said. “Motorists were simply walking away from their vehicles – many of them being left still in the travel lane.”
Dominion Power, VDOT and Arlington County have all said that their efforts to restore power and clear streets were hampered by traffic and abandoned vehicles. In other words, if there were fewer vehicles on the streets, the streets would have been cleared earlier and not as many of the 16,700 Dominion customers without power last night would have been in the dark.
So should employers, including the federal and county governments, have let employees out earlier, given the early predictions of heavy snow around rush hour?
One Arlington County employee wrote to tell us that keeping county offices open until 5:00 placed county employees “in life threatening conditions.”
I think the decision by County officials to keep employees at work until 5 p.m. should be seriously questioned. Our department sent most of our out of county employees home early, but a core of Arlington residents remained. By the time the County closed its offices those employees were placed in life threatening conditions.
The storm was not a surprise. I can understand not closing early on a forecast alone. But once “whiteout conditions” are verified in Sterling and heading our way, employee safety should take precedence over previously announced plans.
Some of our employees required 7 hours to get home IN THE SAME COUNTY. Many are single women without somebody to assist them in an emergency.
The County manager is very lucky that today’s headlines did not feature employee deaths. It was a very bad decision to ignore facts on the ground for the sake of public relations. After 4:00 almost no citizens even ventured into the County building anyway. And employees were forced to sit and watch their situation become more and more desperate.
Flickr pool photo (top) by BrianMKA.
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.
(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.
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.
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.
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.
I-66 is currently slow in both directions in the area of Glebe Road, near Ballston.
Traffic heading eastbound is facing delays due to some sort of road work that shut down one lane near Spout Run. That lane closure just cleared.
Traffic heading westbound is heavy all the way from Fairfax Drive to the construction zone at the Beltway.
It’s a slow go for commuters on Route 50 and Columbia Pike this morning. And it’s an even slower commute for those on I-395.
Nearly the entire length of northbound I-395 is slow, from the Beltway to the 14th Street Bridge. HOV commuters, however, have it relatively easy.
The Arlington stretch of Route 50 and Columbia Pike are both experiencing heavier-than usual traffic volume.
