Thursday's commute began with a rollover wreck on Hwy. 610 at Zane Avenue in Brooklyn Park around 7 a.m., but thankfully that didn't set the tone for the drive to work.
Many drivers had a pleasant commute, but that was not the case for drivers on westbound I-94. The trip from Woodbury into downtown St. Paul sputtered most of the morning with 20 to 25 minutes needed. The Midway also had its share of slow traffic, which started to loosen after 8:30 a.m.
Northbound Hwy. 100 went sour around 7:30 a.m. and remained heavy from the Crosstown to 394 for the latter stages of the rush. At times, that short trip was taking 15 to 18 minutes.
A motorcyclist wiped out on the ramp from Energy Park Drive to northbound Hwy. 280. No word on if the biker was hurt. He could not be located.
Traffic flowed extremely well on eastbound 94 from the Crow River to the Fish Lake Split and on southbound 494 from the split down to the Crosstown. Northbound Hwy. 169 was not bad either.
Meanwhile, northbound 35W had its usual pockets of congestion from County Road 42 to downtown Minneapolis, with the slowest traffic from the Crosstown to downtown Minneapolis during the 8 a.m. hour.
No problems with the Northstar or light rail trains this morning. Buses ran on time, too.
A new road closure greeted drivers in the University of Minnesota area. The ramp from University Avenue/4th Street ramp to northbound I-35W is now closed for the next two weeks.
