Townhouse wall collapses in Northwest

WASHINGTON — The collapse of part of a building in Northwest is causing delays for Wednesday morning’s commute.

A wall of a three-story townhouse in the 100 block of New York Avenue in Northwest collapsed Tuesday evening, and the D.C. Fire Department closed the westbound lanes of New York Avenue between 1st Street NW and New Jersey Avenue.

The two left lanes reopened by about 6 a.m. Officials have not yet said when all three lanes will reopen to traffic.

Structural engineers on the scene say if the building were to collapse, it would collapse inward instead on onto the street.

Even through officials have opened two lanes, they say commuters should expect major delays and they recommend finding an alternate route.

Below is a map of where the wall collapsed.

WTOP’s Dick Uliano contributed to this report. Follow @WTOP and @WTOPTraffic on Twitter and WTOP on Facebook.

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