A shooting on St. Paul's West Side and a fatal motorcycle crash got Thursday's rush hour off to a dramatic start. Both events occurred just before sunrise and affected traffic for much of the morning.
The shooting occurred on Wabasha Street at Plato Blvd. Authorities said police shot a suspect. Both directions of Wabasha were closed from Plato to Cesar Chavez Street and Metro Transit routes 62 and 75 were diverted to Robert Street. Traffic was also diverted to Robert Street and the High Bridge.
In Bloomington, a 67-year-old New Brighton man died when he lost control of his motorcycle on southbound Cedar Avenue at the Mall of America exits. The ramp from westbound 494 to southbound Cedar Avenue was closed at 5:50 a.m. until about 7:30 a.m. when the scene cleared. Two lanes of Cedar also were closed and traffic diverted to the Lindau Lane ramp.
A wreck on eastbound Hwy. 212 at Mitchell Road bound up traffic in Eden Prairie in the middle portion of the rush. That has cleared, but the Crosstown continues to struggle from Shady Oak Road to 35W. Eastbound also saw heavy traffic and crawled from Portland Avenue to Hwy. 100.
Northstar trains were delayed as the Federal Railroad Administration was conducting tests on the tracks, Metro Transit said.
Westbound 94 is looking fine at this hour, but earlier a crash at Hwy. 280 and one at Dale Street led to congestion that had things knotted up from Woodbury to Minneapolis. At the worst, that trip was taking 40 minutes.
A 6 a.m. crash on southbound Hwy. 169 at 109th Avenue has traffic backed up to the Mississippi River. Another at Bass Lake Road shortly after kept things bumper to bumper through Brooklyn Park and Maple Grove.
A reminder that the University of Minnesota Park and Ride lots for State Fair goers are closed today. The football team has a home game and the lots are unavailable.
