The rain put a big damper on the morning commute as traffic moved at a snail's pace on many routes, especially during the peak of the rush.
Commuters on westbound 94 from Woodbury to St. Paul and Minneapolis had trips twice as long as usual, which at worst reached 45 minutes from Manning Avenue to downtown Minneapolis.
It was a tough grind for northbound 35W and Cedar drivers, too. Those trips were crowded all morning even though we had no crashes to bog things down.
A couple pieces of rubber popped out of bridge joints on northbound 35W at 60th Street and on westbound 494 at the Hwy. 61 overpass. They looked ominous but they don't cause any damage, MnDOT said. Still, it caused drivers to swerve around them or come to a sudden stop. That caused minor traffic jams in both spots.
Travel times were long in the north metro too. Southbound 35W, 35E and eastbound 94 trudged along due to the wet conditions.
One positive is that the rain kept speeds down and we had few crashes to snarl traffic.
At present, westbound Hwy. 36 seems to be loosening a bit through Roseville. Speeds also are picking up on I-94 between the downtowns and on routes south of the 694-494 loop.
That is it for today. I'll be back Friday with more live reports for your drive to work. As always, questions and comments on Twin Cities traffic are welcome at drive@startribune.com
