The rush hour began with a handful of spinouts and crashes attributed to icy roads and slippery conditions caused by last night's light snow.
And things went from bad to worse as traffic levels picked up. Many major routes were hampered with crashes leading to longer than normal drive times.
Among some of the worst drives were on southbound Hwy. 169 where between 6:30 and 7:30 a.m. crashes at 85th Avenue, Hwy. 55 and on the Bloomington Ferry Bridge tangled traffic. Southbound 35E had its share of delays with crashes at Larpenteur Avenue and Little Canada Road. An overturned semi on the northbound lanes at Goose Lake Road created a giant gawker effect on the southbound side.
At this hour, the system is dealing with a number of wrecks. Here is where you'll find slow traffic and mishaps:
- Northbound 35W at 36th Street in Minneapolis. One lane is blocked. We also have crashes at Diamond Lake Road and a left-lane blocking wreck at 73rd Street in Richfield.
- Eastbound 94 on the right at Cedar Avenue
- Both east and west 94/694 at Winnetka Avenue. Crash is on the westbound side, but traffic inching along in both directions
- Westbound 694 at Century Avenue. Vehicle landed in the right ditch.
- Northbound 35E, two cars landed in the right ditch at Deerwood Drive in Eagan.
- Northbound Cedar near the Mall of America on the right shoulder
Both directions of Hwy. 610 are still trying to recover from a rollover crash at Hwy. 252. Heavy from 169 to University Avenue.
Elsewhere, bumper to bumper traffic remains on Hwy. 36 through Roseville. Sluggish conditions persist on southbound 494, Hwy. 100 and Hwy. 169 from I-94 down to Hwy. 7.
On a brighter note, no delays this morning on the Northstar Commuter line. Blue Line trains and buses also held schedule.
