Flood waters played havoc with the morning rush hour for commuters in the south metro as MnDOT closed the Hwy. 41 and Hwy. 101 crossings over the Minnesota River.
That forced drivers to use Hwy. 169 in Shakopee and I-35W to cross the river, and that natuarlly clogged both routes with all the extra traffic. The closures will be with us for a day or two most likely, so get ready for long drives for the next few days.
MnDOT did add a third lane for Hwy. 169 commuters, but that didn't relieve the congestion across the Bloomington Ferry Bridge. At least at this hour drive times and congestion is starting to drop.
Northbound 35W struggled all morning from the Burnsville Split across the Minnesota River. Things creeped along all morning and made the trip into downtown Minneapolis a 30 to 40 minute affair for most of the rush. At this hour, it's 25 to 28 minutes.
The work zone on southbound 35E, down to two lanes from Little Canada Road to Maryland Avenue, didn't slow traffic too much, but a crash at County J around 7 a.m. did. That lasted 30 minutes and had traffic stopped back to Tart Lake Road. It's now clear sailing at this hour.
The rest of the metro dealt with the normal slow downs and assorted crashes, but no major delays.
A reminder that tonight and Tuesday, the Lowry Hill Tunnel will be closed for cleaning. Detours will be in effect from 10 p.m. to 5 a.m. both days.
