At least two other cars are reported to be involved in the accident.
There are no immediate reports of injuries.
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Traffic
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Bloodied but alert, the woman was placed on a stretcher and wheeled to a waiting ambulance. As she was freed, the crowd broke into applause.
As of 4:15 p.m, traffic was blocked on Four Mile Run Drive and on eastbound Columbia Pike near the accident. There were significant delays on westbound Columbia Pike approaching the accident.
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Nearly 3,500 Dominion customers in North Arlington are without power this afternoon. The outage was possibly caused by a branch that hit a power line and caused a transformer to catch fire.
Police report that traffic lights on Glebe Road are out from I-66 near Ballston to Lee Highway. The outage at the busy Lee Highway and North Glebe Road intersection has the potential for a significant traffic impact.
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Police are reporting that traffic lights are on flash at the intersection of Wilson and Washington Boulevards in Clarendon.
The county’s Department of Public Works is responding to the scene.
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To be sure, the intersection at North Quincy Street and 9th Street in Ballston is challenging, for both cars and pedestrians. But is it dangerous?
The intersection is a two-way stop, with stop signs on 9th Street but clear sailing on Quincy. Those on foot crossing Quincy must trust that fast-moving cars are going to obey the law and yield to them in the crosswalk. Those behind the wheel on 9th Street during rush hour must play a real-life game of Frogger, dodging pedestrians and cars in their effort to make a left or cross the street.
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The lane closure, put into place to facilitate a utility relocation project, was originally supposed to be lifted in July. Now, it will likely be in place through the end of the year.
Washington Gas will wrap up their portion of the utility work by the end of October or beginning of November, according to VDOT utility relocation manager Matthew McLaughlin. Then it’s expected that Dominion will start a two-month installation of an underground electrical conduit. The existing lane closure will stay in place during that time.
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The good news is that both thoroughfares will remain open during construction of the new Washington Boulevard bridge, a three-year process that’s expected to begin next fall. Plus, all original travel lanes on each will be open during rush hour and during certain special events and federal holidays.
The bad news is that during the day, during construction, the re-routing of Columbia Pike traffic around the bridge may get a bit funky and cause some delays. The contractor selected to undertake the project will ultimately be able to design their own traffic management scheme, but the plan initially envisioned by VDOT involves directing Columbia Pike traffic up the existing ramps to a makeshift stop light on Washington Boulevard, turning Washington Boulevard and Columbia Pike into a four-way intersection.
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Chain Bridge will be closed from 8:00 tonight to 5:00 Monday morning, Arlington County said today.
“There will be no access to the bridge from either the District of Columbia or Arlington, including access for cyclists and pedestrians,” the county advises.
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The exit ramp is currently closed while medics attend to the occupants and as a tow truck attempts to clear the wreckage.
Traffic on I-395 does not appear to be affected.
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If you were thinking of making a quick break for home or vacation on westbound I-66 today, think again. An accident on westbound I-66 before the Spout Run Parkway exit is backing up traffic leaving the District.
One lane is currently getting by past the accident scene.
One emergency responder who was trying to get by the traffic called it “a faster version of a parking lot.”
Elsewhere along I-66, an accident on the ramp from I-66 to Route 110 between a dump truck and a passenger vehicle is reported to be causing some slowdowns. Firefighters have just been dispatched to the scene to help clean up fluid spilled as a result of the accident.
The automobile association says that DC-area drivers should “brace themselves” for the one-two punch of kids going back to school and workers returning from summer vacations today. After a two-month respite from the worst of the area’s traffic, things should be back to gridlock-as-usual — a “dreadful day of reckoning” known as “Terrible Traffic Tuesday.”
AAA notes that about 1.5 million local commuters drive to work solo on any given workday. The group says that despite the increasing number of people working from home, Metro’s recent troubles and the new peak-of-the-peak fare may be putting more cars on the road.