Crime & Safety

UPDATED: After 11 Hours, Lawyers Road Reopens

Downed wires keep traffic from passing between Galloping Way and Whippoorwill Road

UPDATE 1:17 a.m. Lawyers Road is now open, according to a Virginia Department of Transportation traffic map. 

Fairfax County Police were called off the scene about two hours earlier, a dispatcher said around 1 a.m., though barricades remained in place, blocking traffic.

The original closure prevented drivers from traveling on Lawyers Road between Galloping Way and Whippoorsville Road; VDOT closed the road up to Hunter Mill Road to complete its repairs, according to its traffic map.The closure lasted about 11 hours in total.

Find out what's happening in Viennawith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Commuters, through email and Twitter, told Patch they were frustrated no signs appeared to let drivers know about the issue, especially as minutes turned into hours and the backup stretched several miles to the Dulles Toll Road, they said.

A spokesman from Dominion Power said no customers were affected because of the incident.

Find out what's happening in Viennawith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Patch will update this story as more information becomes available

---

UPDATE 8:46 p.m.: A Fairfax County dispatcher says the road remains closed.

----

UPDATE 7:10 p.m.: Hunter Mill Road is backed up from its intersection with Lawyers Road until the Dulles Toll Road, commuters are reporting.

-----

Downed power and telephone wires has shut down part of Lawyers Road south of Hunter Mill Road on Thursday night.

The road is closed between Galloping Way and Whippoorwill Road.

A report of the wires came in around 2 p.m., at which point Fairfax County police responded to the scene, a dispatcher said.

The department closed the road at that time, and it remains closed as officers await assistance from Fairfax County fire, Dominion Power and telephone utility workers.

The spokesman said road would likely remain closed until power lines could be cut, thereby clearing the roadway, and serviced.

"They're doing what they can out there," the dispatcher said.

Twitter users told Vienna Patch around 6 p.m. there were backups, but the traffic issues hadn't become too bad, yet.

User brian_c_wilson said he turned around and took Vale Road to Hunter Mill Road instead. Vale was also experiencing some backups he said; the delay added about 15 minutes to his trip.

According to Dominion Power's outage map, there are no power outages at this time.

Patch will update this story as more information becomes available.


Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here

To request removal of your name from an arrest report, submit these required items to arrestreports@patch.com.