Freezing Rain Shuts Major Highways

Other roads, ramps and interchanges closed or partially closed included Interstate 66 and the Beltway, I-66 and Route 29, and I-95 and the Prince William Parkway. In Maryland, Bladensburg Road was closed for a time. Most were reopened by late evening.

In Montgomery County, Route 355 was closed in both directions between Chestnut Street and Fulks Corner Avenue in Gaithersburg. Police also closed Great Seneca Highway between High Gables Drive and Kentlands Boulevard after a collision that might have been caused by ice, Montgomery Police Officer Melanie Hadley said. A portion of Route 29 near the border between Montgomery and the District in Silver Spring was closed because of an icy bridge, police said.

Prince William County police said they dealt with numerous accidents and road closures, which police spokeswoman 1st Sgt. Kim Chinn blamed on ice on ramps and bridges.

The same was true in Loudoun County, where school officials dismissed classes an hour early because of the weather. Icy conditions caused multiple accidents on several roads, including Route 28 and the Loudoun County Parkway, said Kraig Troxell, spokesman for the Loudoun Sheriff's Department. "Between, like, 3 and 4 we worked, like, 10 accidents, basically in the Sterling area . . . mostly fender benders," he said. "That's unusual, because usually we have issues in the west, with some of the more rural roads. You can't treat the roads before anything falls, and then it was unexpected."

The weather also created problems for voters heading to the polls after work. The drive to the polling place at Leisure World of Maryland in Silver Spring was "scary," said Joan Reynolds, 67. "But I was determined to vote."

In Arlington County, a regularly scheduled School Board meeting was cancelled, but polling stations at schools remained open.

Maryland State Highway Administration spokesman David Buck said crews were out all day salting Maryland roads, but bridges and overpasses were 2 to 3 degrees colder than surface roads and froze quickly when precipitation started to fall. "The reality is: The sun started going down, it clouded over and those couple degrees made all the difference,'' Buck said.

"The timing in the Washington region can't be any worse."

By late evening, conditions seemed to be improving, and road officials were getting a better handle on the situation. Route 50 eastbound had been completely opened, and VDOT had opened the high-occupancy-vehicle lanes.

The treacherous conditions led some to give up on voting altogether.

"I've been doing this commute for 20 years, and all the signs look really bad," said Marc Bergeron, a computer programmer who works in Herndon and lives in Bethesda. "When you walk where there's no salt, you slip."

He made it to the car, but, after seeing backups on the Dulles Toll Road, he gave up on the drive and on voting. He decided to take in a movie instead. "I was thinking I might be able to sneak it in," Bergeron said. "I would have voted for John McCain."

Staff writers Rosalind S. Helderman, Ernesto Londo¿o, Josh Zumbrun, Jonathan Mummolo, Michael Laris, Allison Klein, Daniel deVise and Martin Weil contributed to this report.