A suspicious item prompted authorities to briefly close Washington Boulevard between I-395 and the GW Parkway around 10:00 this morning.
The item was located along the fence line of the Pentagon and Washington Boulevard, according to Pentagon Force Protection Agency spokesman Chris Layman. The item has since been cleared.
The closure is due to power lines that were knocked down by a tractor trailer, according to police spokeswoman Det. Crystal Nosal. Dominion is on the scene and expects to have the lines repaired by 10:30 a.m. More than 150 Dominion customers are without power in the area due to the downed lines.
Eastbound Lee Highway traffic is being diverted onto southbound George Mason Drive. Cars are not being allowed to turn left at the intersection, to ensure that traffic moves smoothly through the area.
Traffic lights are coming to the intersection of Washington Boulevard and N. Garfield Street in Clarendon.
The lights and illuminated crosswalk signs have been installed at the intersection, but have black plastic covering them as the county prepares to turn the signals on. Several pedestrian safety improvements were recently made at the intersection, but it’s still difficult for drivers on Garfield Street to see oncoming traffic on Washington Boulevard.
The lane has now been demolished by construction contractors, who are in the process of building a wider sidewalk, additional green space and circular driveways for two houses. Daytime traffic on Arlington Ridge Road has been reduced to one lane near the construction zone, with flaggers directing cars on either side. The sidewalk along the east side of Arlington Ridge Road near the construction has been closed.
In addition to the work in progress — eliminating the Meade Street slip lane and making the intersection a purely 90 degree turn — the $200,000 county project has already turned the bus pull-off lane south of 23rd Street into an expanded sidewalk and has squared up the intersection of Arlington Ridge and Oakcrest Road by extending the permanent curbing to where a temporary curb had been installed.
A fully-loaded dump truck came to a grinding halt at the intersection of N. Glebe Road and Randolph Street this morning after its left front wheel detached from the axle.
Nobody was hurt, but the accident did block Randolph Street for at least a half hour, as a heavy wrecker truck was brought in to move the disabled dump truck. A large gash was visible in the pavement, showing where the truck started grinding into the street after the wheel fell off.
The intersections — Glebe and Carlin Springs Road, Glebe and Wilson Boulevard, and Glebe and Fairfax Drive — involve long crosswalks across numerous lanes of fast-moving traffic, as well as the occasional slip lane. The improvements are intended to make crossing the intersections safer by reducing crosswalk distances and “conflict points.”
At Glebe and Fairfax, crews will “regularize intersection geometry” — i.e. convert “suburban” slip lanes into “urban” 90-degree turns controlled by the stop light. Crews will also widen the mid-intersection pedestrian refuge.
The bridge will close on 8:00 p.m. on Friday and will reopen at 5:00 a.m. on Monday, starting this weekend, according to DDOT.
The three weekends when closures are planned are Aug. 19-21, Sept. 9-11 and Sept. 16-18.
According to an email from Arlington Alerts, police are planning on shutting down eastbound I-66 from the Beltway to Route 110, from 2:30 to 4:00 p.m. on Friday.
“The [police] escort is being provided to ensure the safety of all motorists along the path of travel,” the email said. “It is recommended that anyone who travels along this route take alternate routes to their destination during this period. It is anticipated I-66 will be reopened by 4:00 pm at the beltway to minimize the impact on rush hour traffic.”
No, you weren’t imagining things on your commute that morning. Those were, in fact, two horses grazing near the off-ramp from northbound I-395 to Glebe Road.
It’s unclear why exactly the horses were there — some sort of accident or mechanical mishap involving the tow vehicle, perhaps — but those tending to the horses apparently decided that they needed to munch on some grass while waiting to continue on with their journey.
Update at 5:55 p.m. — Clarendon Boulevard and 16th Street will both remained closed between N. Pierce Street and N. Oak Street through the morning rush, the county said this afternoon.
Update at 1:10 p.m. — The processes of shoring up the collapsed retaining wall could take up to 48 hours, according Arlington County Inspection Services Division Chief Shahriar Amiri. While some road closures will remain, Amiri said that Clarendon Boulevard may reopen as soon as tomorrow’s morning rush hour. “We are working hard at it,” he said.
The accident happened on Lynn Street, near the intersection with Lee Highway. Two lanes of Lynn Street were blocked as medics treated the bicyclist and as police took photos of the accident scene.
The bicyclist was taken to George Washington University Hospital with unspecified injuries. So far there’s no indication that those injuries are life-threatening.
The county has been planning to redesign parts of Arlington Ridge Road from 23rd Street to South Meade Street. Some of the improvements include work on curbs, gutters, sidewalks and bike lanes. The county cites pedestrian safety as the reason for the revamping.
Some neighbors launched a campaign called “Save Our Streets” to oppose the approximately $200,000 project. Group members say they’re upset because of wasteful spending, the county isn’t listening to them and there’s a lack of transparency.
