Two hurt in three-vehicle crash on Capital Beltway in Prince George's County

The Beltway reopened after a pre-dawn three-vehicle crash near the Pennsylvania Avenue interchange sent two people to the hospital and shut down all lanes for about five and a half hours. Maryland State Police troopers from the College Park Barrack were called to Interstate 495 at about 5:10 a.m. Friday, where an Odyssey minivan, a Ford pickup truck and a Lexus SUV collided in Prince George’s County. By 10:40 a.m., all lanes had reopened.

For Prince George’s County, the location was the story. The crash happened in the College Park Barrack area, and Maryland State Police says troopers in that barrack work in Prince George’s County. Maryland Department of Transportation State Highway Administration personnel helped with the lane closure, a reminder that even a crash involving only passenger vehicles can pull in multiple agencies and disrupt the morning trip for commuters headed through the Beltway corridor.

The Beltway interruption was not an isolated reminder. On April 25, Maryland State Police said another crash on the inner loop of the Capital Beltway at Maryland Route 414 in Prince George’s County killed a highway worker and closed lanes for nearly five hours. MDOT’s 2026 transportation report also keeps the Capital Beltway in its long-range plan, including a full interchange at Greenbelt Metro Station to improve traffic operations on I-95/I-495 and better serve the station area. In a county where the Beltway is a daily lifeline, those projects show why each crash lands far beyond the scene itself.