Chain Bridge reopens after icy conditions cause crashes

Several crashes were reported along the bridge, which was closed in both directions while salt crews and police responded to the scene. It’s not clear how long it will be shut down.

And in Montgomery County, there was a crash that involved possibly a dozen vehicles along Germantown Road near Interstate 270, according to fire officials. No one was injured.

Virginia Department of Transportation officials said crews, including 450 trucks, were out overnight and early this morning treating roads and particularly bridges, ramps and overpasses. But there were still dangerous spots of black ice.

“This is what happens with ice,” said Ellen Kamilakis, a spokeswoman for VDOT. “The same thing we’re seeing in our area is what’s happening in D.C. and Maryland.” She said bridges, ramps and overpasses freeze faster because they’re not “insulated by having earth in it” so it freezes quickly.

“With this amount of ice,” she said, “there’s never a strategy for driving on it.” She said that’s why the agency recommends people delay their travel until temperatures warm up, and it gives trucks a chance to keep treating the roads.

She said crews had been working on Route 7 and the Dulles Toll Road with treatments but the area keeps refreezing. “We’re treating it and treating it,” she said. And similarly at the Gloucester Parkway in Ashburn, there were repeated spots of black ice even after crews “hammered it,” she said.

Throughout the morning, she said, crews would continue to treat roads.

Other roads in the region closed, including part of Interstate 66 west near US 29 in Prince William County. And part of VA 123 south near International Drive in Fairfax was closed.

Updated at 7:23 a.m.

Officials said Chain Bridge in the District is “extremely icy” Friday morning after a wintry mix fell Thursday and then refroze overnight.

D.C. police said there had been “multiple” crashes on the bridge and that salt trucks were working on the bridge. Experts were looking to see if it needed to be closed.

Original post at 5:30 a.m.

A day after more than an inch of snow and sleet fell in the D.C. region, residents faced slick spots on roads and sidewalks during Friday morning’s commute, and several crashes were reported, mainly in Northern Virginia.

Some schools in the region, including those in Fairfax and Frederick counties, were delayed in opening.

School closings and delays in the D.C. area for Friday, Nov. 16

The precipitation stopped overnight, but chilly temperatures made some spots treacherous. Experts warned that bridges and overpasses were particularly slick.

Officials said there were more than a dozen crashes in parts of Northern Virginia, along parts of the Beltway, the Dulles Toll Road and Route 7. There were also reports of crashes in Sterling and in western Prince William County.

In Loudoun County, an ambulance slid off a roadway along Leesburg Pike and the Dulles Toll Road. It was not clear if anyone was hurt. And in the District, there was some flooding along Malcolm X Avenue in Southeast.

Drivers are reminded by transportation experts to slow down and allow for extra travel time.

On Thursday, the D.C. region was hit with a messy wintry mix right at the morning rush hour. Roughly 1.4 inches of snow hit Washington, with higher amounts north and west of the city. The early-season snow mix surprised road crews and school districts that had at first called for delays and then closed.

'It's worse than what was predicted: D.C. area hit with biggest November snowfall in 29 years

Bottom line: Be careful.