SUV Overturns at S. Glebe and 2nd Street
An SUV overturned on 2nd Street S. near the intersection of S. Glebe Road this afternoon.
The crash, reported as a single-vehicle accident, happened around lunchtime today. The SUV overturned and came to rest on its roof.
One person was pulled out of the wreck and transported to the hospital, according to an Arlington County dispatcher. We’re told the vehicle has been towed away and the road has since reopened.
Photos courtesy @SeidelAgency (left) and @lucerojay (right)
Traffic Alert: Accident Closes Portion of Glebe Road
(Updated at 3:30 p.m.) All lanes of Glebe Road have reopened at Route 50 following a three vehicle accident that shut down traffic for about half an hour.
Police say all lanes of southbound Glebe Road were shut down and only one lane of northbound is getting by.
According to police spokesman Dustin Sternbeck, the accident occurred on the overpass of Route 50. Two of the vehicles involved were blocking the southbound lanes and the third was in a northbound lane.
One person was transported to the hospital with minor injuries.
Part of what took a while to get the busy road reopened was the amount of debris strewn across the roadway due to the extensive damage to the cars. The police investigation into the accident is ongoing.
Photos courtesy of Arlington County Police Department
SUV Flips on Roof Near Rosslyn
Rainy weather might have played a role in a rollover accident near Rosslyn Tuesday night.
An SUV flipped on its roof during the single-vehicle wreck, which blocked the northbound lanes of N. Meade Street just before the ramp to and from eastbound Route 50.
No injuries were reported.
Movie Shoot to Close Roosevelt Bridge
The filming of a big Hollywood movie will temporarily close the Roosevelt Bridge on Sunday.
The closures are scheduled from 8:20 to 9:10 a.m., and again from 1:00 to 1:30 p.m. From the D.C. film office:
On Sunday, May 5 there will be intermittent closing of the Theodore Roosevelt Bridge to allow for the filming of a major motion picture set in the District. MPTD has negotiated an agreement with the DC Department of Transportation, the Metropolitan Police Department, the Virginia Department of Transportation, Arlington Police and the National Park Service to close the Theodore Roosevelt Bridge.
The Theodore Roosevelt Bridge plays an integral role in the storyline. Aerial photography will be used to capture various angels (sic) of the bridge. While in the nation’s capital the production company will film other iconic sites.
VDOT is advising drivers to take alternate routes.
Drivers accessing the bridge from Virginia via I-66, Route 50 or the George Washington Parkway will be detoured. Virginia motorists heading into D.C. from I-66 have three options:
- Take I-66 East to Route 110 to the 14th Street Bridge (this is the official detour motorists can follow).
- Take I-66 East to Exit 73/Lee Highway to the Key Bridge.
- Take I-66 East to Exit 72 to Spout Run Parkway to George Washington Parkway to the Memorial Bridge.
Motorists heading from D.C. to I-66 can use the same options in reverse.
During the closures, message signs on I-66 as far west as Centreville will advise motorists to use alternate routes.
Virginia State Police, Arlington County Police, and U.S. Park Service Police will be stationed at various traffic control points on Route 50, I-66 and the GW Parkway.
VDOT traffic engineers anticipate that the 8:20 a.m. shut down will create 15-minute delays and the 1 p.m. closure will create 30-minute delays.
While neither agency specified which movie is being filmed, ComicBookMovie.com speculates that the closures are for the filming of Captain America: The Winter Soldier, a new superhero movie that’s set in D.C.
Hat tip to @shticksstickler
Driver Hits Two School Buses in Pentagon City
An SUV was totaled after hitting two parked school buses in the Pentagon City area this afternoon.
The Nissan Murano struck one bus that was parked on S. Hayes Street and damaged the front bumper. It then hit the rear and side of the other. No children were on the Washington County, Md. school buses at the time of the accident.
The southbound lanes of S. Hayes Street were shut down at 15th Street during cleanup, but have since reopened.
The driver of the SUV was transported to the hospital as a precaution but did not sustain any significant injuries. Nobody else was injured, either. Police say no charges have been filed against the driver so far.
Street Closures for Weekend Races
Starting tonight and continuing each day this weekend, races will temporarily close down some Arlington roads.
The Arlington County Police Department is assisting with controlling traffic during a 5K and 10K race around Yorktown High School on Sunday, April 14.
The following restrictions will be in effect from 7:30-11:00 a.m.:
- Yorktown Blvd will be closed to westbound and eastbound traffic from N. 30th Street to N. Edison Street
- N. 28th Street will be closed to northbound and southbound traffic from Yorktown Blvd to N. Greenbrier Street
- Yorktown Blvd will be open to eastbound traffic from N. Edison Street to N. 26th Street
Residents are asked to park their vehicles in driveways instead of on the street in order to reduce the congestion in the affected areas. Anyone with questions or concerns regarding the impact to the community can contact Lieutenant Bob Medairos at 703-228-4160.
Roads will also be closed temporarily for the Nottingham Elementary 5K on Saturday (April 13) and the Crystal City 5K Friday tonight. Drivers are advised to find other routes during the affected times.
Major Road Improvements Coming to Columbia Pike
(Updated at 2:20 p.m.) While the planned Columbia Pike streetcar has been making local headlines, Arlington County has been quietly moving forward with a project that’s bringing significant infrastructure improvements to the busy thoroughfare.
Arlington County’s Columbia Pike Multimodal Street Improvements Project seeks to implement “streetscape and related improvements for pedestrians, bicycles, transit, and vehicles along Arlington’s 3.5 mile Columbia Pike corridor.” The improvements include a completely reconstructed roadway, new left-turn lanes, planted medians, additional street trees, enhanced pedestrian crossings and so-called bicycle boulevards.
The $80 million project is currently in progress, and expected to run through 2018. About $72 million of the $80 million price tag coming from the county’s commercial tax-funded Transportation Capital Fund.
The turn lanes in particular are expected to “lessen delays and improve traffic flow,” said Bill Roberts, Transportation Program Manager for Arlington County. Meanwhile, the bike boulevards, which will run parallel to Pike along 9th and 12th Streets, will combine with planned 10-foot-wide shared bike and pedestrian sidewalks to make it easier for cyclists to traverse the Pike away from traffic. But residents might be happiest to learn about the roadway reconstruction.
The project will ultimately result in the reconstruction of the entire stretch of Columbia Pike from the Pentagon to Fairfax County. That should be welcome news for road users, who have been grumbling about the pockmarked state of portions of the Pike.
Currently, road crews are working on the stretch of Columbia Pike between S. Wakefield Street and Four Mile Run Drive. That work is expected to wrap up this fall, according to Roberts.
The stretch of road is in especially bad shape, Roberts said, thanks to runoff from multiple water main breaks, which seeped into the project area, and heavy bus traffic, which has caused depressions in the roadway, particularly around bus stops. Even with plans to reconstruct the roadway, Roberts said crews will be doing some temporary repaving in the westbound lanes in the next 2-3 weeks.
“It will be much better very shortly,” he said. Crews have already repaved the eastbound lanes between Four Mile Run and S. Wakefield Street, according to Roberts.
Following that work, the county expects to start road reconstruction between the Fairfax County line and Four Mile Run Drive. That portion of the project is slated to start in the spring of 2014 and end 24 months later, in the spring of 2016.
Next up after that is S. Wakefield Street to S. Oakland Street, and Walter Reed Drive to S. Scott Street. Those projects will happen concurrently between early 2015 and early 2017.
Project work has already been completed between S. Oakland Street and Walter Reed Drive.
The work is necessary, Roberts says, because the underlying roadbed has become uneven due to its age and the patchwork nature of previous roadwork. Some of the existing infrastructure along the Pike dates back to the 1920s and 1930s, while the Pike itself was first built in 1810.
“What we’re going to be doing is installing a consistent sub-base and a thicker layer of asphalt,” Roberts said. “We’re completely reconstructing the roadbed.”
While the road improvements will be the most visible part of the project, much of the funding will actually going to work well below the roadway. Aging and leak-prone 8-inch water and sewer pipes under the road will be replaced by new 12-inch pipes, and existing overhead utilities will be placed underground. The utilities are all being placed in the middle of the roadway, so that water main breaks or other utility work doesn’t disrupt the future streetcar.
The timeline for the final piece of the multimodal project — from Washington Boulevard to S. Joyce Street — is still up in the air. The county is currently in talks with the federal government about a land swap that would allow the county to “realign” Columbia Pike to make a straighter, more direct connection with S. Joyce Street. If all goes well, Roberts says that work could be completed in 2018.
The Multimodal Improvements are a necessary warm-up act for the ultimate construction of the planned Pike streetcar, but the project is being run independently of the streetcar project. County Board member Chris Zimmerman, who lives along the Pike, said that improvements to the Pike are necessary regardless of whether the streetcar gets built.
“We’re going to have big traffic challenges in the next few years on the Pike, streetcar or no,” he told ARLnow.com late last year. “It’s been a good road for a long time but it’s really old now. The street itself has to be upgraded.”
Pedestrians Struck on Lee Highway
Police and firefighters are assisting two pedestrians who were struck by a vehicle on Lee Highway.
The incident happened at the intersection of Lee Highway and N. Veitch Street just before 9:00 a.m. Via a traffic camera, it appears that the pedestrians were attempting to cross Lee Highway on the western side of the intersection when they were struck near the center median.
One of the victims suffered a head injury, while the other suffered a possible back injury, according to scanner traffic. Both victims’ injuries are described as relatively minor.
Nottingham Elementary 5K to Be Held Saturday
Several north Arlington streets will be closed Saturday for the annual Nottingham Elementary 5K run/walk.
The race will be kicking off around 8:00 a.m. on Saturday, April 13 at Nottingham Elementary (5900 Little Falls Road). Registration is $25 if booked by the end of the day today, then $30 thereafter. Proceeds from the race will go toward Nottingham Elementary School PTA programs.
Arlington County Police will close the following lanes and roads Saturday morning.
- Williamsburg Boulevard will be closed to eastbound traffic from Little Falls Road to N. Harrison Street from 7:30 – 10:30 a.m.
- Little Falls Road will be closed from Williamsburg Boulevard to N. Harrison Street from 7:30 – 10:30 a.m.
- N. Ohio Street will be closed from N. 26th Street to Williamsburg Boulevard from 7:30 – 10:30 a.m.
“Along the race course, temporary road closures will be necessary as the race moves throughout the neighborhood,” police said in a press release. “Residents of the affected areas will be escorted through the traffic closures to minimize the impact on the community. All road closures will be reopened by 10:30 a.m.”
“Residents are asked to park their vehicles in driveways to reduce the congestion on the affected streets to allow more runners through the neighborhood as quickly as possible, which will result in a return to normal conditions,” the police department added.
Photos: Car Fire in Buckingham
A car caught fire in the parking lot of the Buckingham Center strip mall Monday night.
The fire was reported just before 6:00 p.m., in the lot located on the northeastern side of the intersection of N. Glebe Road and Pershing Drive. The Honda CRV’s engine compartment was fully engulfed with flames, though it’s unclear what actually caused the fire.
The fire was eventually extinguished before it could spread to the rest of the car.
Photos courtesy @Hightweetts and “Tim”
Water Main Break Closes Busy Intersection
Traffic is flowing again through the intersection of Fairfax Drive and N. Glebe Road in Ballston, following a water main break that closed the busy intersection and a nearby ramp from I-66.
The water main break was reported around 9:00 Saturday night. According to a county spokeswoman, a 12-inch water main burst and flooded the intersection. Pavement bucked in several spots as a result of the break, we’re told by witnesses.
Police closed the intersection and closed the ramp from eastbound I-66 to Fairfax Drive while repairs were made. Arlington County water crews worked overnight to isolate the leak, repair the main and reopen the roads.
“It took [a] valve crew over five hours last night to isolate the leak location,” said Arlington County Department of Environmental Services spokeswoman Myllisa Kennedy, in an email. “Only the Marymount University Ballston Campus building (northwest corner of the intersection) was out of water.”
The repairs were completed and the roads reopened around 3:00 p.m. on Sunday. Anybody with concerns about their water service is asked to call Arlington’s 24-hour water emergency number: 703-228-6555.
Photos courtesy @Dressage74
UPDATED: Downed Power Line on Route 1
Update at 3:15 p.m.: All lanes are now reported to be back open.
Arlington police are preparing to close Jefferson Davis Highway (Route 1) at the Reagan National Airport overpass, near Crystal City, due to a report of a downed power line.
Firefighters are on the scene and requested the busy artery be closed in both directions, according to scanner traffic.
No word yet on how long the road will be closed.
Road Closures for Crystal City 5K Friday
Today and every Friday in April, roads in Crystal City will close for the annual Crystal City 5K Fridays race series.
The race will kick off at 6:30 p.m. on April 5 (today), 12, 19 and 26. In a press release, Arlington County Police said they will close the following lanes and streets from about 6:15 to 7:45 p.m.
- NB lanes of Crystal Drive between 23rd Street and 15th Street
- NB lanes of Crystal Drive between 26th Street and Route 1
- NB lanes of Potomac Avenue between Crystal Drive and Glebe Road
- 33rd Street between Potomac Avenue and Crystal Drive
- S. Ball Street between 33rd Street and 35th Street
- SB lanes of Potomac Avenue between Crystal Drive and 33rd Street (crossing permitted when deemed safe)
The police department noted that southbound Crystal Drive will remain open, and roads north of 15th Street previously impacted by the race will not be affected.
VRE riders are asked to add 5-10 minutes of on-foot travel time to get to the Crystal City station, and those who park in Crystal City parking garages are being warned that they may not be able to get our of their garage during the race.
Street parking along the route, particularly on Crystal Drive and Potomac Avenue, will be restricted. Temporary ‘No Parking’ signs should now be posted.
Photo via Facebook/Crystal City BID. Disclosure: Crystal City BID is an ARLnow.com advertiser
Arlington’s Most Wanted Road Repairs
(Updated at 4:00 p.m.) Like so many spring flowers, the post-winter warm-up brings a multitude of potholes to local streets. While there’s no shortage of bumps, holes and cracks along local roads, two road hazards in particular are frustrating drivers and residents in Arlington right now.
On Wilson Boulevard in Ballston, in the westbound lanes just past N. Randolph Street, a steel utility vault cover continues to produce a bumpy ride and plenty of noise.
We reported about the vault cover last month, after complaints from local residents. The steel plates produced jarring bumps for vehicles, and the booming sound of cars running over the plates annoyed those who lived nearby. Since our report, which suggested that repairs would be made by the end of March, the steel plates were lowered “to create a more even roadway for drivers,” according to Arlington County spokeswoman Laura G. Smith.
The problem is by no means fixed, however. An anonymous local apartment dweller complained that the noise is still “incredibly loud,” and now there are several large screws protruding from the vault.
To fix the issues once and for all, Avalon Bay, the apartment owner that’s responsible for the upkeep of the utility vault, will replace the plates with new concrete vault covers. The covers are expected to be installed “within the next few weeks, depending material delivery time,” Smith said.
Meanwhile, two sets of concrete vault covers adjacent to the cover that’s being replaced are falling into disrepair. Those “may be replaced at some point,” Smith said.
The vault cover in Ballston is not the only road hazard that’s drawing the ire of motorists. On eastbound Columbia Pike near the Sheraton hotel, a sharp change in pavement height in the righthand lane is giving drivers a rude awakening.
It might not look like much, but the tail end of a patched-up section of road produces a sudden, jarring bump for drivers, especially those driving smaller cars. Luckily, the hazard is set to be fixed soon.
“Our Water Sewer Streets team confirmed that the pavement issue in this location was a result of work done to repair a water main break or leak,” said Arlington County Department of Environmental Services spokeswoman Myllisa Kennedy. “A crew is heading out today to make a temporary patch to smooth out the site and is scheduling work on a more permanent patch for the very near future.”
Arlington residents can report potholes using this form.
Metrobus Involved in Accident on Columbia Pike
An accident involving a Metrobus on Columbia Pike sent three people to the hospital tonight.
The wreck happened just before 7:00 p.m. at the intersection of Columbia Pike and S. Queen Street. According to Metro spokesman Dan Stessel, a driver in a white Kia pulled out from Queen Street in front of a 16G Metrobus heading eastbound on the Pike. The bus and the car collided head-on, police said. The Kia then spun around and made contact with another vehicle heading westbound on the Pike, causing minor damage.
Firefighters had to extricate the adult female driver and adult male passenger from the Kia. They were transported to George Washington University Hospital with non-life-threatening injuries, according to Arlington County Police spokesman Dustin Sternbeck.
The driver of the Metrobus was transported to Virginia Hospital Center, complaining of back pain, Stessel said.
As of 7:50 p.m., westbound Columbia Pike was still shut down and traffic was being diverted onto Washington Boulevard. The lanes were expected to reopen shortly after 8:00 p.m.
