MN State Patrol: 145 Crashes, 9 Injured In Metro During Morning Snow
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- Commuters heading home from work Monday are hoping that drive will be better than the drive to work or school this morning.
The Minnesota State Patrol says there were hundreds of accidents during the morning commute. Monday morning's dose of heavy snow resulted in nearly 150 crashes, but none were fatal. From 6 a.m. to 10:30 a.m., the state patrol says there were 145 crashes with nine non-serious injuries. There were an additional 101 vehicle spin-outs or vehicles off the road.
The Monday afternoon snow started up again just in time for the evening commute, creating the potential for all sorts of additional driving hazards.
This morning, lots of people saw their commute time double and even people taking the bus were delayed. Officials with Metro Transit say at one point this morning, 76 percent of their buses were running an average of 31 minutes late.
By lunchtime, the east metro had the most snow on the ground. Parts of St. Paul and Maplewood were covered by four inches of snow.
"I love it. I really do. I'm from southern California originally. I've been up here since 1990. I love it," Jackie Hoff said.
But if you were behind the wheel Monday morning, you were likely a lot less enthusiastic about the snow. Images of the morning commute captured by MnDOT cameras show a slow and stressful drive, filled with crashes and spin-outs.
Gallery: November 30 Winter Storm
"There are going to be people who are going to say 'This is beautiful!' I am not one of those people. I immediately think it's going to be a long commute," Erin Hargrove of North St. Paul said.
She says her 20-minute drive took 45 minutes Monday.
Some high school students skating on their lunch break told us their day got a late start too.
"Usually my bus ride is 20 minutes and it took me at least an hour. I was 15 minutes late to class," the students said.
We found neighborhoods in Maplewood and St. Paul, with snow-covered sidewalks and driveways and plenty of shovels in motion.
"You definitely want to take it easy. You don't want to overdo it with this stuff, especially with the wet snow. It's very heavy," Richard Walker of St. Paul said.