Several people were injured after a car ran off the GW Parkway and into a ravine, then caught fire.
The crash happened around 3:00 p.m., in the northbound lanes just after Memorial Bridge. As of 3:25 p.m., both lanes of the northbound GW Parkway were blocked by emergency vehicles near the crash site.
The road was closed for most of the morning as crews worked to clear snow, fallen trees and abandoned vehicles.
G.W. Parkway drivers spent up to 14 hours in their cars, from yesterday afternoon to early this morning, as fallen trees and collisions blocked the roadway in both directions.
Drivers have been stuck on the George Washington Parkway for 5-6 hours now, according to various reports from Twitter.
The fact that there are no traffic cameras along the parkway has made it difficult to see exactly what’s going on, but Twitter users are reporting that downed trees are blocking all northbound and southbound lanes.
Arlington is One of Country’s Richest Counties — Well, here’s one way Arlington is a “green” county — its residents are loaded with cash. So says Newsweek, which ranks Arlington the #5 richest county in the nation. Seven of the top ten richest counties are in the DC area. More from DCist.
Charges Pending Against Driver in Davies Wreck — The young woman who was driving the car that crashed last October on the George Washington Parkway, killing one woman and severely injuring U.S. soccer star Charlie Davies, is expected to be charged with involuntary manslaughter. Investigators believe Maria Espinoza of Clarksville was intoxicated when her SUV careened across a grassy area near Memorial Bridge and struck a guardrail, nearly splitting it in half, according to the Washington Post.
The National Park Service is expected to launch an extensive environmental and historical impact study for potential boathouse locations in the next several months, the first step in what is expected to be a lengthy but, at last, finite process.
The impact study would likely wrap up by the end of 2011. If it the boathouse then gets the go-ahead, and if funding can be secured for the project, the Park Service would seek bids for the planning, building and daily operation of the boathouse.
The northbound George Washington Parkway has been shut down at Spout Run due to a vehicle that skidded off the road and slammed into a tree.
One southbound lane is being blocked by a fire truck. Northbound traffic is being diverted onto Spout Run.
The Four Courts Four Miler kicks off at 9:00 a.m. Saturday morning. Police will shut down Wilson Blvd from Courthouse Road to North Rhodes Street from 7:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. Wilson Blvd from North Rhodes Street to Route 110 in Rosslyn will be closed at 8:45 a.m. Northbound Route 110 from Rosslyn to Route 1 in Crystal City will be shut down from 8:30 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. Click here for a map.
Cars parked along the route will be ticketed and towed. Race participants are urged to use Metro. The Courthouse station is a short distance from the starting line.
Arlington’s U.S. Rep. Jim Moran (D-VA) has issued a statement on the Senate filibuster that has resulted in 2,000 Department of Transportation employees being furloughed today. The furloughs have forced a number of federally-funded road construction projects, including the George Washington Parkway Humpback Bridge project, to temporarily shut down.
Here’s Rep. Moran’s statement:
