The Friday rush hour was clipping along until the past 15 minutes when two crashes on heavily traveled freeways crippled the commute on I-94 and I-35W.

A three-car crash on the right shoulder and impacting the two right lanes of westbound 94 at Prior Avenue has created a traffic jam that forms at Snelling Avenue. Police, fire rigs and paramedics have just arrived on the scene. Word from MnDOT is that a woman is going into labor.

In Minneapolis, northbound 35W crawls from 50th Street north to 38th Street. Things do clear out from Lake Street to I-94.

Until this flurry of activity, the rush was uneventful. Maps were green as traffic levels were light and speeds at the posted.