MAPLE GROVE, Minn. — The calendar insists that it's spring, but wintry conditions early Wednesday caused chaos during the morning rush with crashes and spinouts across the Twin Cities metro.
Highway 169 was closed in both directions at the junction with I-94 in Brooklyn Park for nearly three hours after a multi-vehicle pileup. Crews towed cars while investigators reconstructed the scene. The state patrol says there were unspecified injuries involved.
Another incident on Highway 52 at I-494 created some tense moments, as MnDOT traffic cameras captured a serious spinout involving a pickup that was hauling a construction trailer. It spun around multiple times, narrowly missing oncoming traffic as other vehicles sat in the ditch after their drivers also lost control.
And in Minnetonka at the junction of I-394 and I-494, the driver of a dump truck apparently slid off an icy on-ramp and landed in a holding pond.
The Mpls/St Paul Traffic Twitter feed was littered with additional incidents involving spinouts and accidents.
KARE 11 meteorologist Laura Betker said on Sunrise that a combination of cold temps, light flurries and moist air caused ramps and bridge decks to ice up, catching drivers by surprise.
Conditions remain intermittently slick in a number of areas, and will likely remain so until temperatures warm a bit.
The State Patrol should release crash numbers later Wednesday morning.