Icy roads, congestion and crashes are conspiring to bog down the morning drive, especially in the west metro where getting from the north to the south is proving difficult.
Southbound Hwy. 100 and southbound 169 are both more than 40 minutes from I-94 down to the Crosstown. Southbound Hwy. 100 is especially bad due to a couple wrecks at Excelsior Blvd. Northbound is tight past a crash at 66th Street and again from 36th Street up to 394.
Southbound 494 is no picnic either. Traffic is bumper to bumper from the Fish Lake Split down to 49th Avenue. Ahead, a crash at Hwy. 12 has traffic slowing.
Westbound 494 is testing the patience of commuters. Things are packed from Cedar Avenue over to Hwy. 169. That's partly due to wrecks on the eastbound side at East Bush Lake Road.
Eastbound 494 has seen its share of crashes and spinouts between Hwy. 212 and West Bush Lake Road.
The drive from 494 to downtown Minneapolis on eastbound 394 is now at 15 minutes. Look for a crash west of Hwy. 100.
Elsewhere, even where we don't have crashes, slippery roads and heavy traffic are creating lots of slow and go traffic. Plan on adding extra time to the commute.
