The hot spot this morning was definitely on northbound I-35 in the Northfield area where a semi jackknifed at milepost 71 around 5:40 a.m. The freezing rain was likely a factor in the incident, which forced authorities to close the freeway for more than an hour. Around 7:30 a.m., one lane was reopened but monolithic traffic jams remained in place. Traffic was still at a crawl at 9 a.m.
In Minnetonka, a rollover on eastbound Hwy. 12 at Carlson Pkwy. around 8:40 a.m. was the start of an increasing number of crashes in the metro area as snow and some freezing rain moved in. Roads are starting to freeze over, so prepare for changing and deteriorating conditions
At this hour we have wrecks in the following locations:
- On the ramp from Penn Avenue to westbound 494
- On the ramp from westbound Crosstown to northbound 169
- Eastbound 94 at Hwy. 280
- Northbound 494 at Oakland Road. That's just prior to the 394 exits in Minnetonka
- A car and semi on eastbound Hwy. 7 at Shady Oak Road
Be safe, keep the speeds down and make sure your lights are on. I'll be back Wednesday with more live blogging of your drive to work. As always, photos and questions about Twin Cities traffic are welcome, here, @stribdrive or drive@startribune.com
