Drivers in the north and east metro had it the worst this morning as rain and crashes conspired to tangle traffic on westbound Hwy. 36 and southbound 35W. Between 7 a.m. and 8:30, drive times skyrocketed as things were slow to clear out.
A wreck on the Mississippi River Bridge around 7:30 a.m. blocked the center lane for about 15 minutes, and that was enough to stack up traffic back to Hwy. 36. Even after it cleared, traffic crawled into downtown Minneapolis for the rest of the rush.
Westbound Hwy. 36 commuters were hampered by wrecks at Edgerton Street and Fairview Avenue during the 8 a.m. hour. The aforementioned crash on 35W also impacted the drive for Hwy. 36 drivers, making it a slow go all morning long.
South metro drivers had few issues this morning, but Cedar Avenue drivers did experience congestion from County Road 42 up to 35E between 7 and 8 a.m. A stall at 35E added to the problems.
Northbound 35E moved swiftly while 35W had spurts of stop and go traffic from the Burnsville Split into downtown Minneapolis.
A medical emergency delayed the third inbound Northstar run, but light rail trains ran on time.
At current, westbound 494 is struggling from 24th Avenue over to Hwy. 100 where we have a stalled vehicle on the right shoulder.
I'll be back Tuesday with more live morning traffic reports. For more commuting and traffic news, check back on the blog all week.
