Accidents, spinouts snarl late morning rush

Rush hour typically ends around midmorning., but like traffic on many Twin Cities highways today, it's running late too.

"We still have a lot of red on our maps," a spokesman at the Regional Transportation Management Center said this morning. Red indicates heavy or slow traffic.

"There are a lot of cars out there," he said.

Motorists in the south metro had experienced a two-mile backup due to a crash at 8:52 a.m. on northbound Interstate Hwy. 35W at Burnsville Pkwy. Traffic had loosened some by 9:15 a.m., Minnesota Department of Transportation cameras showed.

Other trouble spots at 9:15 a.m. included westbound I-94 at Prior Avenue in St. Paul, eastbound I-694 at Silver Lake Road in New Brighton, eastbound I-694 at Shingle Creek Pkwy. in Brooklyn Center, westbound Hwy. 10 at Main Street in Anoka and westbound I-494 at Pilot Knob Road in Eagan.

Traffic was moving slowly on Hwy. 169 in the Plymouth/New Hope area, southbound Hwy. 100 near I-394 in St. Louis Park, I-694 between I-94 and I-35W in New Brighton and Arden Hills, and southbound Hwy. 280 in Roseville.

Roads were wet and there were scattered slippery spots due to a light snowfall this morning. In addition to several accidents, there have been numerous spinouts on Twin Cities area roads.