The Thursday rush hour began with a couple early-morning crashes, but trend did not continue as only a handful of wrecks popped up during the rest of the drive.

Congestion delayed drivers in the ususal spots such as on southbound 35W in the northern suburbs and westbound 94 heading into St. Paul. The good news is that things loosened up by around 8 a.m. in most places, although there are minor delays at this hour on 35W from Hwy. 10 to 694.

At this hour, we are crash free. A couple of trouble spots remain on Hwy. 110 at Dodd Road due to road construction and on Hwy. 55 at Revere Lane where traffic lights are not working.

You'll run into a brief traffic snag on eastbound 394 from Hwy. 169 to Wirth Pkwy., but nothing that will set you back more than 3 to 5 minutes.

Traffic is expected to be horrible this afternoon with the Twins, Vikings and Gophers playing at home today. We will see how thing shake out.

The Drive is off on Friday to begin the Labor Day weekend. I'll be back Tuesday with your first day of school and classes at the U reports.