U Street NW is one big mess this morning.

According to a DDOT employee working on the scene, a truck that was driving down U Street at 4 a.m. this morning left a significant trail of oil and grease on the road. The oil has begun to pool and bunch at the curb of the street. DDOT, police and other District employees have been working hard this morning to try and soak up as much of the oil as possible. The spill is mostly concentrated on the eastbound lane of the street.

Did we also mention it smells like vomit? Yeah, it smells like vomit. Trashy vomit.

This editor tried to walk across the street a few times between 13th and 14th Streets; while the copious amounts of sand helps to prevent sliding around, there’s no way that vehicular traffic should be driving on the street as it currently stands. The slippery conditions run from about 11th 9th Street all the way to 16th Street. Vehicles, including the 90, 92 and 96 Metrobuses, are currently being detoured at those points, as well as at V and T Streets NW and on either end of the spill area.

Pedestrians are being allowed to walk through the affected area, but all other traffic, including bikes, are being turned around at the detour points.

UPDATE [10:24 a.m.]: 14th Street NW has reopened to both northbound and southbound traffic, although DDOT is asking people to take it easy, especially through the U Street intersection. The 50s lines of Metrobus are also back to normal service now, as is the Circulator. 90s line buses are currently using R Street between 9th and 16th Streets to detour.

Also, street sweeping in Wards 1, 2 and 4 has been suspended today; those parked in sweeping areas don’t need to move their cars today.

UPDATE [11:42 a.m.]: U Street between 9th and 14th Streets is now open to traffic, but 14th through 16th Streets remain closed. DDOT is asking motorists to use caution, as the road is still slick in spots.

UPDATE [5:43 p.m.]: One final update, as U Street has been reopened to traffic now for about an hour. All appears to be moving normally at this point. People have returned back to park on the street, though if you’ve ever wanted a spot right on U Street, now is as good a time as ever to snag one. The Department of Public Works will be cleaning the road this evening — from a press release:

Starting at midnight tonight, the Department of Public Works will deploy a variety of street sweepers to continue removing the sand from the area affected by the oil spill – 7th Street, NW on the east, 16th Street on the west, V Street on the north and Rhode Island Avenue on the south.  Two 3,000-gallon flushers, loaded with a water-soluble degreaser, will then spray this solution on the streets.  DPW will work around parked vehicles so there are no parking restrictions.  DPW expects to complete its work before the morning rush hour.

For those of you who missed all the fun today, here’s a video from DDOT of the cleanup effort. All that sand sure did its job: