(Updated at 4:15 p.m.) Glebe Road was blocked in both directions in the area of 8th Street S., just north of Columbia Pike, due to an single-vehicle accident around 3:45 this afternoon.
A green Honda sedan collided with a utility pole, knocking the pole and numerous utility lines to the ground. As of 4:15, police had reopened one northbound and one southbound lane of Glebe, but authorities are advising drivers to avoid the area “for the next few hours.”
The accident was reported between 7:00 and 7:30, and was said to be blocking several lanes. The lane closures have since been cleared, but as a result of residual delays traffic is crawling all the way back to Alexandria on I-395.
Other main routes that feed onto I-395 also seem to be affected. Eastbound traffic on Route 50, Washington Boulevard and Columbia Pike is very heavy, and delays have also been reported on the GW Parkway near Reagan National Airport.
(Updated at 2:50 p.m.) The Alexandria Fire Department and U.S. Park Police were on the scene of a car that flipped on the George Washington Parkway this afternoon.
The Honda landed on its roof in the median between the northbound and southbound lanes, in the area between Reagan National Airport and Daingerfield Island. There’s no word on injuries, but we hear that the driver was not trapped and did not need to be extricated by rescue personnel.
Clean up of a hazardous material spill in Rosslyn is causing traffic to be re-routed.
Around noon, the Arlington County Fire Department received reports of the spill near 1400 Wilson Blvd. It’s currently unclear what the material is.
The agency says it made the decision to waive the HOV requirement today and tomorrow in order to “help ease delays on arterial routes due to signal outages.” Across Northern Virginia, VDOT says there are more than 80 traffic signals affected by power outages and about 50 roads closed due to downed power lines and trees.
Regular HOV restrictions will remain in effect on I-395 and on I-66 outside the Beltway. HOV rules on I-66 will also be waived on Wednesday due to the July 4 holiday.
(Updated at 10:25 a.m.) A pedestrian was killed by a car on a section of Columbia Pike partially darkened by the area’s widespread power outages.
The man was struck by a Honda heading westbound on the Pike near intersection with Four Mile Run Drive, where the traffic signal and some street lights are dark due to the power outages. We’re told that the victim was transported to a trauma center in Fairfax County and was pronounced dead.
Smoke could be seen near the Pentagon this afternoon due to a brush fire.
The fire and the resulting smoke was seen in the median near the southbound I-395/Route 1 split.
VDOT spokeswoman Jennifer McCord says the agency is currently planning on closing and tearing down the bridge either in late August or early September. She said the exact timing of the demolition is contingent on some other work, including the completion of new ramps to and from westbound Route 50 and Courthouse Road.
Once the closure is in place, eastbound Route 50 drivers will be directed to the next exit — Rhodes Street — and detour signs will point them back to Courthouse Road. McCord said engineers are still working on a detour for those trying to get on eastbound Route 50 from the Courthouse area.
An accident in the Rosslyn tunnel on eastbound I-66 is snarling traffic.
Police have re-opened eastbound I-66, after having shut it down at Spout Run for a while. Traffic is crawling past the accident via the left shoulder.
Although still structurally sound, the 51-year-old bridge is apparently the most deteriorated of the 25 throughout the county. The new bridge will be improved structurally, and widened to increase safety, particularly for bikers and pedestrians.
Currently, the entire bridge is 65 feet wide. The bridge widening proposal suggests increasing that to 69 feet. Under the plan, the existing sidewalk, which is five feet wide, would become eight feet wide, and a five foot bike lane would be added. The four lanes of vehicle traffic would remain, but there would no longer be a center median.
A pedestrian walk signal at the intersection somehow caught on fire around 11:30 this morning. The fire was minor and eventually burned itself out, but not before passersby caught sight of smoke coming from the signal. As a result of the fire, power was temporarily cut to all traffic signals at the intersection.
As of 12:10 p.m., the lights were operating on battery power and blinking red. Police were on scene assisting with traffic control.
An accident at the intersection of N. Glebe Road and Wilson Blvd had office workers and bystanders scratching their heads this afternoon.
The accident happened at the Ballston intersection just after 3:30 p.m. Somehow, a red sedan entered the left-hand travel lane of traffic heading in the opposite direction on Glebe Road. It appears that the sedan ran head-on into a taxi stopped just before the intersection.
