Better, but not great. That's how the commute went on southbound I-494 through Maple Grove and Plymouth went on Tuesday morning.

Sure, there was near gridlock from Bass Lake Road down to Hwy. 55 for most of the morning, but there were two lanes open which helped prevent the backups that formed on eastbound 94 approaching the Fish Lake Split on Monday.

Eastbound 94 from Rogers to Maple Grove sailed right along.

Traffic was crummy on southbound Hwy. 169 and Hwy. 100 after 7:30 a.m. as congestion bogged down the commute. A crash on Hwy. 100 at Duluth Street also hindered movement.

No crashes, but heavy traffic kept things slow on northbound 35W from the Crosstown to downtown Minneapolis. From Burnsville, trip times reached 35 minutes during the mid to late rush hour.

East metro and north metro drivers saw good conditions most of the morning. One exception was a stall that briefly tied up traffic on southbound 35W at County I just after 8 a.m.