Wednesday's rush started with a strange incident in Brooklyn Center where a vehicle landed in Shingle Creek just off westbound I-694. The circumstances are still unclear, but the driver did walk away from the vehicle unhurt, according to police.
That had the right lane shut down for about an hour around 6 a.m.
A crash on eastbound I-94 and a stall on westbound 94 in the Midway during the 8 a.m. hour turned the commute between the downtowns sour. That trip was taking as long as 20 minutes in each direction at the works. The incidents at Lexington Avenue and Snelling Avenue have cleared but traffic is still sputtering along. That also is affecting southbound Hwy. 280, which is clogged from Hennepin down to 94.
Westbound 494 ran slow from Bailey Road over the Wakota Bridge where one lane is out of service due to bridge deck sealing. Things also were tight through Bloomington due to crashes at 24th Avenue and heavy traffic from Cedar Avenue to France Avenue. That is still bogging down the drive there.
MnDOT technicians solved the problem that kept the entrance from southbound Hwy. 100 to the 394 HOT lanes blocked for the early part of the rush. The gates were stuck in the down position.
Our current list of hot spots include:
- The work zone on northbound Hwy. 52 from Argenta to Concord Blvd in Inver Grove Heights. Long backups were reported earlier.
- Road work on westbound 394 at Plymouth Road.
- Left lane blocked on westbound 694 at White Bear Avenue
- Left shoulder blocked at eastbound 94 at the Fish Lake Interchange in Maple Grove
- Westbound 494 at the 35W exits
That is it for today. I'll be back Thursday with more live blogging about the morning drive to work. Enjoy the day.
