A trio of late rush hour crashes on southbound 35W caused hassles for drivers in Minneapolis and Richfield. Fender benders at 50th Street and Diamond Lake Road have cleared in the past few minutes, but a crash at Lyndale Avenue had the right lane blocked. That just cleared, but it still has traffic crawling along from 46th Street.
A crash on the bottom of the ramp from eastbound Hwy. 55 to eastbound Hwy. 5 is causing minor delays in the area near Fort Snelling.
We also have a right shoulder residing crash with a couple vehicles on northbound 35E at Cliff Road. It's 18 minutes to reach downtown St. Paul.
Earlier a box of shingles blocked the lanes of southbound 494 in Plymouth at County Road 6. That was enough to slow traffic for miles, with the trip from 494/94/694 split to I-394 at 20 minutes during the heart of the rush.
The Crosstown was sluggish, particularly on the westbound side between 35W and Hwy. 100. Part of that could be attributed to the Xerxes Avenue ramps being closed in preparation for this weekend's bridge demolition.
Elsewhere, aside for off and on slow downs in the usual spots, we had no major traffic-tangling incidents.
Buses and trains ran on time all morning.
