Tuesday's morning rush was a step short of perfect, with just enough congestion, a handful of crashes and two vehicle fires to keep it interesting but too not painful for commuters.

The latest is a vehicle fire on the right shoulder of southbound I-35W at Sunset Road in the Lino Lakes area.

Traffic maps are green at this hour, but a few routes had that orange and red colors earlier. The slowest traffic was on westbound 494 in the 8 a.m. hour after a crash at Portland Avenue had traffic stacked up back to Hwy. 5.

Minor congestion on southbound Hwy. 169 through Golden Valley and New Hope and crowded conditions on southbound 35E from Hwy. 36 to downtown St. Paul also added some time onto the drive for most of the morning.

Perhaps it's spring break and folks are not working, but for those have been out and about traffic has been on the light side and issues have been few.

Wednesday might be a bit slower as snow and rain are in the forecast. I'll be here to guide you to work and keep you abreast of any issues on the roads.