The rush hour got off to a tough start for drivers on westbound 694 when overnight road work on the 35W bridge ran long. Sealant put down did dry in time for the rush hour and that forced MnDOT to reduce the freeway to a single lane.
That caused massive backups that still persist at this hour, even though all lanes opened around 8 a.m. Adding to the trouble were a couple crashes, including one still blocking the right shoulder at Edgerton Street.
A big crash on Hwy. 61 at Jamaica Avenue in Cottage Grove around 6 a.m. caused delays for drivers in both directions. Word was the road was icy this morning.
South metro drivers enjoyed smooth sailing for the early portion of the rush, but congestion slowed things during the mid-rush, especially on the Crosstown between Hwy. 100 and 35W. At this hour, that has loosened quite a bit. We still have minor slow downs on westbound 494 from Hwy. 5 to 35W.
A stall is blocking northbound 35E at Maryland Avenue. That is causing minor delays.
The rest of the system is moving quite well at this hour, with pockets of slow traffic on westbound 94 from Dale Street to Hwy. 280 and on southbound Hwy. 169 from County 81 to Bass Lake Road.
Westbound Hwy. 36 also is heavy from Dale Street over to 35W, a 12-minute ride.
