Friday's rush hour started out with the gate arms on the eastbound 394 HOT lanes malfunctioning for the third time in a week.
That led to many drivers squeezing into the general lanes and creating a tight ride from General Mills Blvd. to downtown Minneapolis.
The slow drive there was about as bad as the one commuters in the east metro experienced on westbound 94. A rollover around 6 a.m. at County 21 in Lake Elmo led to backups 3 miles into Wisconsin, and things didn't loosen up until around 8:30 a.m. At times the trip into downtown St. Paul was taking 40 minutes.
A wreck on westbound 94 at Hwy. 280 made the trip between St. Paul and Minneapolis a headache. That drive was at 30 minutes at the worst. At present, things are better with about 14 minutes needed.
Other areas saw stagnated conditions, especially on southbound Hwy. 100 from 94 to 394 and northbound 35E from 494 to downtown St. Paul. A few crashes and stalls also hampered the drive on other routes.
At present, the lone crash is on westbound 694 at Hwy. 61. Traffic volumes are dropping as are travel times.
The bright spot, no delays of note on Metro Transit buses or trains.
