Good morning, commuters!

All eyes will be on I-494 through Maple Grove and Plymouth to see how traffic is affected by the new lane configuration. The freeway is two lanes southbound from the Fish Lake Interchange down to Hwy. 55 and a single lane northbound. Two northbound lanes will be open for the afternoon commute.

A number of other road projects get underway today, too.

Crews will close Minnehaha Avenue to through traffic between Godfrey Parkway/East Minnehaha Parkway and 42nd Street. Nawadaha Boulevard will also be closed at Minnehaha Avenue

Hwy. 5 between Hwy. 55 and Hwy. 51/Montreal Avenue will go down to a single lane in each direction today through September.

Work on the Franklin Avenue bridge over the Mississippi River gets underway. Bike lanes and sidewalk will be closed from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. The eastbound bike lanes and sidewalks will be closed the first half of the week, and the westbound the latter half of the week. Bicyclists will be sharing the general traffic lanes.

Starting at 7 a.m., northbound Hwy. 61 between White Bear Avenue and just north of Hwy 96 will be reduced to one lane. All northbound lanes will reopen daily from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. for evening rush-hour traffic.

I'll be keeping an eye on the roads and rails this morning, reporting any delays or issues — and I will need your help.

If you see or hear about any congestion, delays or problems, e-mail drive@startribune or tweet @stribdrive.