heavy traffic

Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com

Arlington Democrats pie-eating contest 2014 (Flickr pool photo by Alan Kotok)

Today Is Terrible Traffic Tuesday — AAA Mid-Atlantic has again dubbed today Terrible Traffic Tuesday. With vacations over and kids back in school, rush hour trips are expected to increase in length by 26 percent today, on average. Washington, the auto club says, has the worst rush hour traffic in the nation. [AAA Mid-Atlantic]

Fairfax School May Be Model for Arlington — Fairfax County unveiled a new five-story urban-style elementary school, with tech-laden and light-filled classrooms. The school, in the Seven Corners area, may be a model for a future school in Arlington, which is struggling to find enough open space for new schools. [InsideNova]

Shuttleworth Wins Pie-Eating Contest — Bowen Shuttleworth, the son of former Congressional candidate Bruce Shuttleworth and an emerging track champ, emerged victorious in the pie-eating contest (photo, above) at the annual Arlington County Democratic Committee Labor Day chili cookoff on Monday. The cookoff itself was interrupted by thunderstorms.

Flickr pool photo by Alan Kotok

Backups on SB I-395 After Accident Near King Street

By ARLnow.com

Accident at I-395 and King StreetThe evening commute on southbound I-395 is especially slow today due to a multi-vehicle accident.

The accident happened in the mainline lanes near King Street just before 5:00 p.m. Medics are reportedly evaluating two people: a pregnant woman and a person with a head injury.

Currently, three lefthand lanes are blocked by the emergency response. Traffic is backing up just past the Pentagon.

Major Backups on EB I-66 Due to TR Bridge Damage

By ARLnow.com
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(Updated at 5:30 p.m.) Traffic on eastbound I-66 was backed up to the Beltway this morning due to roadway damage on the Theodore Roosevelt Bridge.

A photo sent to ARLnow.com from an I-66 commuter shows a section of roadway that has sunk a foot or more, creating a large gap. The damage is located on the east end of the bridge at the E Street exit, we’re told. In a tweet, DDOT says one lane is closed as a result.

That lane closure is causing big problems: even at 10:30 a.m. traffic on eastbound I-66 was very slow inside the Beltway, which in turn caused backups on Arlington arterial roadways that lead to the highway.

DDOT spokesman Reggie Sanders says the damage was caused by a “utility cut in the roadway.” As of 5:30 p.m., DDOT had installed metal plates over the damaged section.

Heavy Traffic on I-395 After Truck Accident

By ARLnow.com

Accident involving a truck on I-395 Accident involving a truck on I-395

(Updated at 9:35 a.m.) Traffic on northbound I-395 is slow from the Beltway to Arlington due to an accident involving a truck near the Pentagon.

A truck slammed into the jersey wall and a light pole in main line northbound lanes, just before the 14th Street Bridge. Crews are working to get the truck down from the jersey wall.

Two lanes are blocked as a result of the accident.

Drivers: New Pike Traffic Pattern is Causing Big Backups

By ARLnow.com
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Morning rush hour traffic on Columbia Pike has gone from bad to worse thanks to a new traffic pattern at the Washington Boulevard interchange, drivers tell us.

Two weeks ago VDOT, as part of its Route 27/244 interchange project, altered the traffic pattern for vehicles heading eastbound on Columbia Pike. Drivers heading toward northbound I-395 now have to turn left at the traffic signal on S. Quinn Street, whereas before northbound and southbound traffic could both take the right-hand ramp that also leads to southbound I-395.

Traffic pattern change at the Columbia Pike/Washington Boulevard interchangeLast week, one reader told us the new traffic pattern was a “disaster,” with eastbound Pike traffic backed up to S. Courthouse Road at 7:45 a.m. Today (Wednesday), another reader said that traffic was backed up to S. Walter Reed Drive at 8:15 a.m.

“That is absolutely ridiculous,” said Thierry Driscoll, a Pike commuter who now uses S. Courthouse Road as a shortcut to Washington Boulevard. “There are cars backed up in the left lane of Columbia Pike waiting to take a left onto the Washington Blvd access ramp, but cannot because the access ramp is full.”

“There is no excuse for such a boneheaded design,” he continued. “This new pattern has inconvenienced a lot of people.”

Map of the planned Washington Boulevard/Columbia Pike interchangeDriscoll said it takes 10-15 minutes to get from the start of the backups to Washington Blvd.

VDOT spokeswoman Jennifer McCord says the current traffic pattern is temporary and will be in place for another 8-12 months while new ramps are built.

“We realize it’s slower for drivers trying to get to I-395N since they have to yield to the oncoming traffic,” she said. “Our folks… added as much time as possible to the left-turn signal” to alleviate some of the traffic.

“No more significant changes” are planned, said McCord. She advised using S. Glebe Road as a possible alternate route to I-395 for those heading from western portions of Columbia Pike.

AAA Predicts Increase in Holiday Travel

By Katie Pyzyk

Heavy traffic on I-395 (file photo)If you’re preparing to travel during the holidays, you’re in good company. AAA Mid-Atlantic predicts nearly half of the residents in the D.C. metro region will leave the area in the next few days.

Nearly 2.4 million people, or about 41 percent of the metro region’s population, are expected to travel 50 miles or more during the time period from this Saturday, December 21, through Wednesday, January 1. That’s a small increase of 0.1 percent over last year. This will be the fifth consecutive year for such an increase, and the highest recorded travel volume for the winter holiday season.

“Unfortunately, a number of Washingtonians sat out three of the first four holiday travel periods of the year as an upshot of all the political drama in the nation’s capital and the economic stress it engendered. But they will not be denied nor deny themselves or their families during the Christmas and New Year’s holiday travel period,” said John B. Townsend II, AAA Mid-Atlantic’s Manager of Public and Government Affairs.

Air travel is expected to slightly decline to 129,300 travelers, compared with 130,400 last year. The number of people traveling by train or bus is also down this year, by about two percent. Automobile travel, however, is expected to increase by 0.3 percent, to more than 2.1 million people.

D.C. metro area residents plan on traveling an average of 965 miles for the holidays. That’s up from 805 miles last year.

AAA Predicts Slight Decrease in Thanksgiving Travel

By ARLnow.com

A plane takes off from Reagan National AirportMore than 1 million D.C. area residents will travel at least 50 miles during the upcoming Thanksgiving holiday period, AAA Mid-Atlantic projects, but the number of travelers will actually be lower than last year.

AAA says 1,058,000 people will journey out of the Washington area, down from 1,070,5000 last year. A projected 90.7 percent of travelers will get out of town via automobile, while 6.9 percent will take planes. The remainder will take rail and other travel methods.

The D.C. region was home to about 5.9 million residents as of 2012.

From the AAA Mid-Atlantic press release:

All in all, that’s 12,000 fewer persons this time around, but you probably won’t notice any difference on area roads, or at airline ticket counters and bus and train stations in the Washington metro area. Remarkably, the overall volume of local holiday travelers has numbered over one million persons for the three past Thanksgiving holidays, and the same is true this year too, after rebounding from the recession-driven declines in 2008-2009. That’s when Thanksgiving travel fell by a staggering 25 percent.

“Still over one million local residents are in the travel mode and mood this Thanksgiving holiday period, as the number of Thanksgiving travelers tops the one million person mark for the fourth year in a row,” said John B. Townsend II, AAA Mid-Atlantic’s Manager of Public and Government Affairs. “Despite the big drop in gas prices this holiday when compared to last Thanksgiving, local residents have been coping with the lingering impact of the sequestration and they are still reeling from the effects of the federal government shutdown in October, both of which hit the regional labor market really hard, especially government contract workers, at the psychic, pocketbook and deeply personal levels.”

BREAKING: Fire Dept. Truck Rear-Ended After Ferrari Crash, Fire on GW Parkway

By ARLnow.com
Courtesy @Chief288

(Updated at 11:40 a.m.) A Ferrari crashed and caught fire on the GW Parkway this morning, prompting an emergency response that then led to an accident involving a fire department vehicle.

The first wreck happened around 9:30 a.m., in the southbound lanes of the GW Parkway under I-66, according to Arlington County Fire Department spokeswoman Lt. Sarah Marchegiani.

The Ferrari lost control on the rain-slicked road and struck the bridge, coming to rest on the side of the parkway. The Ferrari then caught fire, quickly becoming fully engulfed before the flames were extinguished by firefighters. The driver was uninjured, according to Marchegiani.

Just past 10:30 a.m., a pickup truck rear-ended an Arlington County Fire Marshal’s truck that was stopped in the northbound lanes of the GW Parkway, adjacent to the first wreck. A third vehicle was also hit but no injuries were reported, Marchegiani said.

The dual wrecks shut down lanes and caused major backups for GW Parkway commuters. Two trucks are currently on scene to haul away the vehicles involved.

Video (above) courtesy David Johnson. Photos (below) courtesy @Chief288.

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Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com

Long line for the iPhone 5S outside the Apple Store at Pentagon City mall on 9/20/13

Reconfigured W. Glebe Road Intersection Considered — Arlington and Alexandria are considering moving the intersection of W. Glebe Road and S. Glebe Road in order to lessen congestion on Glebe near I-395. The proposal is now part of Alexandria’s long-range planning process. [Patch]

New Picnic Shelter for Lacey Woods Park — The Arlington County Board is scheduled to vote this weekend on an enhancement to Lacey Woods Park (1200 N. George Mason Drive). The Board will consider awarding a $341,000 contract to reconstruct the park’s 100-person picnic shelter. [Sun Gazette]

Moran Decries Proposed Cuts to Food Stamps — Rep. Jim Moran (D-Va.) says a Republican plan to cut nearly $40 billion from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program will hurt low-income families and children and unemployed adults. Yesterday the House of Representatives passed the plan by a vote of 217-210. In his weekly newspaper column, Moran wrote: “it is disheartening to find House Republicans wasting valuable time on efforts to reduce food availability for the hungry instead of addressing urgent issues facing our nation.” [Falls Church News-Press]

Arlington Girl Raises Awareness of Rare Disease — A 5-year-old Arlington girl, who just started kindergarten at Abingdon Elementary, is battling a genetic, degenerative mitochondrial disease for which there is no known cure. Ellie McGinn and her parents have launched a campaign to raise medical awareness of the extremely rare disease. [Washington Post]

AAA: Expect More Labor Day Travelers This Year

By ARLnow.com

Heavy traffic on I-395 near the Pentagon (file photo)More than 800,000 D.C. area residents are expected to leave town for Labor Day, according to AAA Mid-Atlantic.

The organization estimates that 811,500 people will travel at least 50 miles this weekend, a 2.6 percent increase from 2012. Of those travelers, 707,000 — or 87 percent — are expected to travel by car. About 8 percent will travel by air and 5 percent will travel by train, bus or boat, AAA projects.

AAA says the average traveler will journey about 600 miles, which is close to the national average. Gas prices are “unlikely to be a major factor for people in determining whether they will travel this Labor Day,” even though most consider the current national average of $3.54 a gallon “too high,” according to AAA.

“Call it summer’s last fling,” said John B. Townsend II, AAA Mid-Atlantic’s Manager of Public and Government Affairs. “After staying put throughout the summer, Washingtonians are yearning for travel, so they are getting the heck out of town for Labor Day. In fact, this is the fourth year of increases in local Labor Day travelers in the Washington metro area.”

“The effect of sequestration is still felt locally,” Townsend continued. “However, local residents can now gauge its full impact on their discretionary budgets with the recent announcement that the number of civilian furlough days has been reduced from 11 to six. That’s enough unanticipated good news to put folks around here in the mood to travel.”

UPDATED: Residents Evacuated After Gunshot Heard in Apartment Building

By ARLnow.com

Police surrounding the Twenty400 building on S. Glebe Road (photo courtesy Brian Ossip)Update at 7:50 p.m. — Officers entered the apartment and found a 37-year-old man dead from a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head, according to police. A Chihuahua that was in the apartment has been turned over to animal control. Units are clearing the scene.

Earlier: Police have surrounded an apartment building on S. Glebe Road, near Shirlington, after officers heard a gunshot from one of the apartments.

Shortly before 4:00 p.m., officers responded to the Twenty400 building (2400 24th Road S.) to check on the welfare of a man who had not shown up for work for several days. Upon making entry into the apartment, officers heard a gunshot, according to Arlington County Police Department spokesman Dustin Sternbeck. They immediately backed out of the apartment and called for additional resources.

The apartment complex has been at least partially evacuated. Arlington’s SWAT team and bomb squad are now on the scene, preparing to use a robot to look inside the apartment, Sternbeck said. Police negotiators are also on scene. They’re not sure whether this might be a case of a suicide, or a subject who’s barricaded in the apartment.

“We don’t know what we have inside at this time,” said Sternbeck.

Police and bomb squad units have staged around apartment building, blocking at least one lane on S. Glebe Road and causing some traffic backups. Drivers should expect delays in the area.

Photo courtesy Brian Ossip

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