St. Louis Park was the epicenter of activity for much of the rush hour. A vehicle went into a holding pond just after 6 a.m. on the ramp from Hwy. 7 to northbound Hwy. 100. The early word is that five children and the driver were rescued from the vehicle and taken to Hennepin County Medical Center.
Traffic is still jammed on southbound from Duluth Street to Excelsior Blvd. The ramp from Hwy. 7 to northbound 100 remains closed.
Other serious injury crashes tangled traffic on Hwy. 12 at 6th Avenue in Maple Plain and a rollover on southbound 35E at 80th Street did the same. Both have cleared.
Elsewhere at this hour, you'll find heavy-duty conditions on southbound Hwy. 169 from 36th Avenue to 394 and on westbound 94 from Huron Blvd. to the Lowry Hill Tunnel.
Northbound 35W sputters from the Crosstown to downtown Minneapolis.
