Commuters must have skipped southbound 494 and moved over to Hwy. 169. That route from Hwy. 610 down to Medicine Lake Road is bumper to bumper.
That's the worst of the drive in the metro at this time. Flipping a coin on whether to go on 169 or 494? Go on 494. That's moving very well despite the construction between the Fish Lake Split and Hwy. 55.
Here are some current travel times:
North metro
Southbound 35W from 95th Avenue to downtown Minneapolis: 17 minutes
Southbound 35E from County 96 to I-94: 14 minutes.
Eastbound Hwy. 10 from Hwy. 169 to 35W: 13 minutes
Westbound 694 from 35E to Hwy. 252: 10 minutes. Eastbound is 10 minutes.