FAIRFAX, Va. — All lanes of the Capital Beltway near American Legion Bridge reopened early Friday morning after an overturned tanker caused massive delays for more than 12 hours, creating a traffic nightmare.
Police and other emergency crews diverted traffic into the evening hours Thursday on the Inner Loop of Interstate 495 after a tanker truck overturned and spilled fuel across the roadway.
Another the tanker -- carrying 8,500 gallons of fuel -- struck another vehicle as it slowed for upcoming traffic and lost control. The tanker overturned just before 2 p.m. Thursday on Georgetown Pike at the American Legion Bridge, Virginia State Police said.
No one was seriously injured, police said.
Officials said Friday they had cited the tanker driver, Weldon J. Harrison, 45, of Woodbridge, Va. with one count of reckless driving and four counts of defective brakes.
While none of the fuel leaked into the Potomac River, the truck reportedly lost 150 gallons of fuel, officials said.
Police said the fuel inside the truck had to be unloaded/pumped into another tanker before it could be removed from the roadway.
Police worked with Virginia Department of Transportation, U.S. Park Police and Fairfax County police to direct traffic, but there was no good detour as several ideas for an alternative Potomac River crossing were scrapped and new highway projects still rely on the bridge to carry traffic.
Drivers continued to see delays and were prompted to use alternate routes through Thursday night until the roadway reopened around 3 a.m. Friday morning.
Traffic around the Washington D.C. area was impacted for hours. Viewers reported sitting under DuPont Circle on Connecticut for more than 45 minutes. Another woman WUSA9 spoke with said it took almost four hours for her to get from Bethesda to Rosslyn.
Overturned tanker snarls traffic, closes Inner Loop of Beltway
Traffic cameras showed long lines of cars trapped trying to cross into Northern Virginia from Washington D.C. during rush hour, and officials were reduced to asking folks to stop recording footage of the crash as they passed by on the highway.
The cause of crash remains under investigation, police said.
