The first day of the new closure of northbound Hwy. 169 at I-494 led to some congestion between the Minnesota River and 494, but we certainly have seen worse.
The bigger impact seemed to be on the proscribed detour, westbound/northbound 494 up to 394. Traffic moved slower through Minnetonka as commuters used 494 to get north. Northbound Hwy. 100 also saw extra traffic this morning.
This closure will be in effect through September, so we'll see how traffic is distributed. For today's ride home, the southbound lanes of 169 from 394 to 494 are open for business.
Tonight the ramp from westbound 94 to northbound 35E in downtown St. Paul closes for 30 days. Now's the time to prepare an alternate route if that is the ramp you normally use. Eastbound traffic will be unaffected as that ramp will remain open.
That's it for today. I'll be back Tuesday with more live reports on the morning commute.
