Truck crash, fuel spill on I-495 wrecks morning traffic in Maryland

Two tractor-trailers crash on the Capital Beltway near Silver Spring, Maryland, on July 2, 2025. (Courtesy Pete Piringer/Montgomery County Fire and Rescue Service)
A crash involving two tractor-trailers causes a fuel spill on the Capital Beltway near Silver Spring, Maryland, on July 2, 2025. (Courtesy Pete Piringer/Montgomery County Fire and Rescue Service)
A view of a crash involving two tractor trailers on the Inner Loop of the Capital Beltway near Silver Spring, Maryland, on July 2, 2025.
A view of a crash involving two tractor-trailers on the Inner Loop of the Capital Beltway near Silver Spring, Maryland, on July 2, 2025. (Courtesy WTOP listener)
A tractor-trailer is heavily damaged after a crash on the Inner Loop of the Capital Beltway near Silver Spring, Maryland, on July 2, 2025. (Courtesy WTOP listener)
A view of a crash involving two tractor-trailers on the Inner Loop of the Capital Beltway near Silver Spring, Maryland, on July 2, 2025. (Courtesy WTOP listener)
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A view of a crash involving two tractor trailers on the Inner Loop of the Capital Beltway near Silver Spring, Maryland, on July 2, 2025.

Both directions of the Capital Beltway were a mess following a serious crash involving two tractor-trailers on the Inner Loop after Georgia Avenue in Montgomery County, Maryland, Wednesday morning.

Reports of the crash started at around 5 a.m., blocking all lanes of traffic for hours.

The accident caused significant delays and a fluid spill on the roadway, requiring extended cleanup efforts. All lanes reopened just before 10:30 a.m., about five hours after the crash.

Traffic on the Inner Loop squeezed by single file along the right shoulder for multiple hours, and backups stretched back past southbound Interstate 270. The Outer Loop was also jammed, mainly due to rubbernecking, with delays beginning before Interstate 95 and extending past the crash site.

The crash caused backups around the region.

The WTOP Traffic Center contributed to this report.

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Will Vitka

William Vitka is a Digital Writer/Editor for WTOP.com. He's been in the news industry for over a decade. Before joining WTOP, he worked for CBS News, Stuff Magazine, The New York Post and wrote a variety of books—about a dozen of them, with more to come.

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