US Route 50 EB reopens after dump truck crash snarls traffic

The eastbound lanes of U.S. Route 50 were blocked in Prince George’s County, Maryland, after a tractor-trailer truck overturned and dumped sand on the road Wednesday morning. (Courtesy NBC Washington/Brad Freitas)

The eastbound lanes of U.S. Route 50 were blocked for hours in Prince George’s County, Maryland, after a dump truck overturned and dumped sand on the road Wednesday morning.



The accident happened a bit before 11 a.m. in the eastbound lanes before the intersection with Maryland Route 3 and U.S. 301 and after Maryland Route 197 (Crain Highway). The right lane and shoulder were opened before 12:30 p.m.; the rest of the road, at about 2:30.

The westbound left lane was blocked for nearly three hours as well, although the rest of the westbound lanes got by, and the one blocked lane was reopened at about 1:45 p.m.

A view of the traffic jam resulting from a tractor-trailer crash in Prince George’s County, Maryland, Wednesday morning. (Courtesy Bryan Alexander)

he dump truck was evidently headed west and crashed through the median and rolled over in the eastbound lanes.

The Prince George’s County Fire Department said that a motorist pulled the driver out of the truck. The driver was taken to a hospital with injuries the fire department described as non-life threatening. A second patient didn’t need to be transported, they said.

Rick Massimo

Rick Massimo came to WTOP, and to Washington, in 2013 after having lived in Providence, R.I., since he was a child. He's the author of "A Walking Tour of the Georgetown Set" and "I Got a Song: A History of the Newport Folk Festival."

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