As the heart of the rush hour approaches, look for traffic volumes to increase. I'm seeing that on southbound 35W from Lexington Avenue down to County Road 96. Expect speeds below the posted and a 20-minute ride down to Hwy. 280.

Westbound 94 looses steam at Hwy. 61 on the east side of St. Paul and things don't pick up the pace until Dale Street. It's 21 minutes from Manning Avenue over to Hwy. 280.

Eastbound 94 slows a tad approaching the Crow River. Things loosen through Rogers but bunch up again around 95th Avenue.

South metro routes 35W, Cedar Avenue and Hwy. 169 still look pretty good coming up from the Minnesota River up to the Crosstown. Plan on 10 minutes on each route from the river north to the Crosstown.