A woman climbed an overpass fence above Interstate 35W in Minneapolis and jumped to her death during Tuesday morning's commute, authorities said.

The incident occurred about 7:10 a.m. at the 46th Street overpass, and the State Patrol had the left two lanes of southbound traffic closed for nearly two hours, said patrol Lt. Tiffani Nielson. The highway is five lanes wide at that point.

The woman didn't pause before letting go, hitting an SUV and then the pavement, Nielson said. A car then came along and struck the woman, the patrol added. The woman was dead at the scene.

The SUV's driver was taken to a hospital for non-life threatening injuries, according to the patrol. The car's driver was not hurt.

Traffic was squeezed to the right three lanes as the scene was cleared and investigators pieced together what happened.

Paul Walsh • 612-673-4482