The rain is good for our drought, but it did not do commuters any favors Thursday morning as traffic jammed up on mainline routes across the metro.
The worst seemed to be in the western and southern suburbs, along with the urban core of Minneapolis and St. Paul.
Toss in a few crashes and that was all it took to raise drive times and commuters' blood pressure.
Westbound Hwy. 36 was a nightmare all morning between Hwy. 61 and 35W. That was largely due to an early crash on southbound 35W at Hennepin Avenue that caused traffic to stack up all the way back to Hwy. 280. Construction and heavy traffic bound up traffic on southbound Hwy. 169 and Hwy. 100 between I-94 and the Crosstown.
At present, a number of crashes are tangling traffic. Here is where you'll find flashing lights and lane blockages.
- On the ramp from northbound 35W to 98th Street in Bloomington
- Northbound I-35 on the left shoulder at County Road 50 in Lakeville. A semi is parked on the right shoulder at County Road 60.
- Southbound 494 at just south of the Fish Lake Interchange. Expect tight conditions down to Hwy. 55
- Westbound 494 at Hwy. 5 by the MSP Airport. The right shoulder is blocked
- Northbound Hwy. 169 at 69th Street. Traffic is heavy and slow from Hwy. 101 to Pioneer Trail, too.
