Skip to main content

Truck crash, fuel spill on I-495 wrecks morning traffic in Maryland

Get the latest traffic and weather on the 8s and 103.5FM.

Both directions of the Capital Beltway were a mess following a serious crash involving two tractor-trailers on the Inner Loop after Georgia Avenue in Montgomery County, Maryland, Wednesday morning.

Reports of the crash started at around 5 a.m., blocking all lanes of traffic for hours.

The accident caused significant delays and a fluid spill on the roadway, requiring extended cleanup efforts. All lanes reopened just before 10:30 a.m., about five hours after the crash.

Traffic on the Inner Loop squeezed by single file along the right shoulder for multiple hours, and backups stretched back past southbound Interstate 270. The Outer Loop was also jammed, mainly due to rubbernecking, with delays beginning before Interstate 95 and extending past the crash site.

The crash caused backups around the region.

The WTOP Traffic Center contributed to this report.

Get breaking news and daily headlines delivered to your email inbox by signing up here.

© 2025 WTOP. All Rights Reserved. This website is not intended for users located within the European Economic Area.

National Museum of the American Latino to be housed in historic Smithsonian building

The Smithsonian Institution has decided to put the National Museum of the American Latino into an existing, historic building, rather than constructing a new one. The Smithsonian Board of Regents on Monday designated the Arts and Industries Building, a 145-year-old redbrick Victorian structure located between the Smithsonian Castle and the Hirshhorn Museum, as the permanent site of the National Museum of the American Latino, which Congress authorized in 2020. In 2022, the Smithsonian narrowed its survey for permanent locations for the National Museum of the American Latino and the American Women's History Museum to four locations near the National Mall on land owned by the National Park Service. The Arts and Industries Building, located at 900 Jefferson St. SW, was one of the four sites. New construction on National Park Service land would require congressional approval. However, since the Smithsonian already owns the Arts and Industries Building, the institution can place the National Museum of the American Latino in the existing building without additional legislation.
Read Next Story