Thursday had the holiday feel for sure as many commuters apparently took the day off. Congestion never materialized, even on northbound Hwy. 169 and northbound I-35W over the Minnesota River bridges. Those have been major choke points for the past two weeks due to flooded out crossings at Hwy. 101 and Hwy. 41.
Those two crossings are still closed.
While motorists didn't experience any sizeable delays, riders on the third inbound trip on the Northstar Commuter train did. The train was held up 15 minutes heading into Minneapolis due to heavy freight traffic, Metro Transit said.
If you have not parked in the Maple Grove Transit Station ramp at Arbor Lakes, you can't get in today. No more vehicles are being allowed in ahead of a construction project that will begin at 8:30 p.m. Thursday. Vehicles currently in the ramp must be moved out by 8 p.m. Those still in the ramp at that time will be towed to a nearby surface lot. The ramp will be closed until 5 a.m. Monday, transit officials said.
That is it for today. I'll be back Monday with more live blogging of the morning commute. Traffic questions are always welcome at drive@startribune.com. Look for answers on my blog or in my weekly column in Monday's metro section.
