Crashes in strategic locations early in the rush hour posed a few problems for commuters, but overall the drive to work was routine.
A center-lane blocking crash on southbound 35E at University Avenue tied up traffic for about an hour starting just after 6 a.m. and congestion persisted even after it was cleared out. At present, look for minor congestion from Hwy. 36 to downtown St. Paul.
A car fire attracted some attention on northbound 35E and that led to delays from Wagon Wheel Trail up to W. 7th Street. Things have loosened up now with speeds near the posted.
In Bloomington, a wreck around 7:30 a.m. had traffic snarled for about 20 minutes on the Bloomington Ferry Bridge.
In the north metro, southbound 35W was clogged from Hwy. 10 to Hwy. 280 for the middle portion of the rush due to a crash and disabled semi at County Road C in Roseville. At current the trip from Hwy. 10 to Hennepin Avenue is about 15 minutes.
Eastbound 394 has its moments. Crashes at Central Avenue and Plymouth Road led to minor delays in Wayzata and Minnetonka. At the peak, the trip from 494 to downtown Minneapolis was 20 minutes. It's back to 10 now.
A chance of snow is in the forecast and that could make the afternoon commute a bit dicey. Drive safely. I'll be back Tuesday morning with more traffic reports. As always, your questions about Twin Cities traffic are welcome. Answers posted on my blog and in my Monday column in the print section.
