The first two hours of the morning rush was a breeze for early birds. Crashes popped after 7 a.m. and with that came congestion.
Northbound 35W at Cliff Road and northbound 694 at 10th Street in Oakdale tied for the most popular spots for crashes. Both had two this morning, including those currently snarling traffic.
A vehicle slammed into the median on 694 at 10th Street and has one lane closed approaching the scene. At Cliff Road, an ambulance is still on the scene of a crash on the right shoulder.
As far as the biggest bottleneck was concerned, that would have to go to westbound Hwy. 36. Wrecks at Fairview Avenue and Dale Street between 7 an 8 a.m. were enough to create a standstill that stretched back to Hwy. 61. At the worst, it was more than 20 minutes from White Bear Avenue to 35W.
The flow was foul on eastboud Hwy. 212 between 7 and 8 a.m. A wreck at Powers Blvd. and police activity at Wallace Road led to bumper to bumper conditions that bogged down the drive.
Inbound Northstar trains ran on the outbound tracks and for the most part ran on time. The reverse commute from Minneapolis to Big Lake was delayed in Fridley for about 40 minutes due to lack of track space.
