We end the rush hour with traffic grounding to a near halt on northbound I-35 in Lakeville in the construction zone between County Road 70 and County Road 50. The drive from Elko to the Burnsville Split is 25 minutes.
It's about the same story on eastbound 94 from 101st Avenue to the Fish Lake Interchange in Maple Grove. A three-vehicle crash that has moved off to the right shoulder is tangling traffic. Plan on 20 minutes from Rogers to the split.
Northbound 35W in south Minneapolis has hit the skids from 46th Street past a wreck at 36th Street.
Another fresh crash on southbound 35W at Industrial Blvd. is causing some consternation.
The flurry of wrecks in the past few minutes broke the pattern of a smooth rush hour in most of the metro area. An early morning rollover injured two in the Columbus Township area on northbound 35W at County Road 23. That was about it for crashes until the recent mishaps.
Drive times remained decent this morning. Northstar train riders on the first and last inbound trips experienced 15-minute delays. Otherwise transit operated on time.
