UPDATE: Tuesday – 1/8/2013, 7:58pm ET – The Key Bridge has reopened to traffic in both directions.
Tuesday – 1/8/2013, 7:36pm ET – WASHINGTON – A man clinging to the rails along the Key Bridge shut down a major thoroughfare between the District and Virginia during the afternoon rush hour Tuesday.
Police were concerned the man would jump into the Potomac River and say they were negotiating with him.
The bridge closed to all traffic about 4:30 p.m. and remains closed to both inbound and outbound traffic.
The closure has created gridlock throughout Northwest D.C. stretching west of 17th Street, south of Massachusetts Avenue and east of the Chain Bridge, according to the WTOP Traffic Center.
The George Washington Parkway and Interstate 66 are also experiencing delays.
The Roosevelt, Memorial and 14th Street bridges are picking up overflow traffic but the lanes are open and traffic is moving.
Metro reported through its Twitter account that buses were experiencing heavy delays in both directions because of the bridge closure.
The evening commute was further complicated by service delays along the Orange and Blue lines because of a disabled train at the Rosslyn station.
Here’s a sample of what commuters encountered this evening:
I should have gone to happy hour. Been in traffic for 45 mins – still Gtown. RT @wtop: Many commuters are stuck in the Key Bridge closure.
— Jen Krupey (@krupey) January 8, 2013
@wtop There’s a car stalled at the corner of Canal & Az. Not helping! #justtryingtogethome
— Paula Hyden (@PaulaHyden1) January 9, 2013
#LIVE _”@loreshank: This is #Mstreet in #dc and #newhampshire it’s a #mess @drgridlock @wtop twitter.com/LoreShank/stat
