WHAT A MESS!

Two separate accidents on key roadways halted traffic into the District’s Northeast quadrant yesterday morning, confounding thousands of drivers in delays that stretched into the evening commute.

“You couldn’t have picked a worse place to have two [accidents] at the same time,” said John Townsend, a spokesman for AAA-Mid Atlantic. “You needed a navigational system to make it to work [in the] morning.”

Roughly 200,000 vehicles travel along Interstate 295 and Route 50 each day, according to the Maryland State Highway Administration (SHA) — and yesterday morning, many of those cars and trucks were at a standstill.

About 7:30 a.m., a carjacked truck being chased by Prince George’s County police crashed into several cars on New York Avenue Northeast, forcing the closure of westbound Route 50 for more than three hours.

Nearly an hour later, a tanker truck rear-ended a tractor-trailer and burst into flames on northbound Kenilworth Avenue near Eastern Avenue, forcing the closure of Interstate 295 in the District for most of the day.

Miles of vehicles lined the roadways for hours into the late afternoon as authorities sorted through the debris and worked to clear the streets.

Lisa Baden, traffic reporter for WTOP Radio and WJLA-TV (Channel 7), said the timing and proximity of the two accidents “choked Northeast.”

Making matters worse, a six-car collision on Route 50 near Route 704 contributed to an already snarled afternoon drive. Maryland State Police said the accident happened at about 5:30 p.m., and crews blocked two lanes to remove debris. No injuries were reported and the scene was cleared by 6:19 a.m.

In the carjacking, Prince George’s County police began chasing a black 2005 Dodge Dakota about 7:10 a.m. Cpl. Debbi Carlson, a police spokeswoman, said an officer saw four persons sleeping in the truck in the 6800 block of Randolph Street in the Landover Hills area.

When the officer scanned the truck’s license plate, he learned it had been carjacked and the suspects fled, taking Landover Road to Route 50, which becomes New York Avenue at the D.C. line.

The truck entered the District about 7:30 a.m. and crashed into several vehicles at New York and Bladensburg Road, Metropolitan Police said.

Police arrested driver Travis Floyd, 18, of Landover; Jahmai Gayles, 20, of Hyattsville; Reginald Campbell, 20, of Landover; and a 14-year-old boy from Maryland. They were charged with unauthorized use of a vehicle.

D.C. police spokesman Sgt. Joe Gentile said all four were evaluated at a hospital for injuries and released into police custody.

A man in one of the vehicles struck in the crash complained of neck and back injuries and was taken to a hospital for examination, Sgt. Gentile said.

The initial carjacking report was filed by the Bladensburg Police Department. Bladensburg Police detective Tracy Stone said officers took the report for an armed carjacking 2:30 a.m. May 29 in the 4100 block of Baltimore Avenue.

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