It wasn't much, but the 0.02 inch of freezing rain that fell early Wednesday added up to big problems for Twin Cities commuters as roads turned treacherous and transit service was curtailed until midmorning.
Metro Transit deemed the icy conditions too dangerous to operate buses and suspended all bus service a little before 5 a.m. Rapid bus lines started back up at 8 a.m. and full service by about 9:45 a.m. It was the first time since 2019 that the agency stopped service due to weather, said spokesman Drew Kerr.
Some Metro Transit buses were out on their routes when the decision to suspend service came and continued to drop off passengers if the driver deemed it safe, while others stayed at the depots until service could resume, Kerr said.
Other transit agencies, including Plymouth MetroLink, Maple Grove Transit, SouthWest Transit and the Minnesota Valley Transit Authority also paused and then resumed service by midmorning.
Light-rail and Northstar trains were not affected and ran as normal, Metro Transit said.
The freezing rain moved into the metro area just after midnight and over about seven hours dropped just 0.05 inches of precipitation at the National Weather Service office in Chanhassen and 0.02 at the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport.
Roads stayed icy even after the rain stopped. Minnesota Department of Transportation plows applied chemicals to break up a thin coat of glaze ice, but pavement remained slick.
"The joys of the season," said MnDOT spokeswoman Anne Meyer. "Ice is some of the most challenging stuff we deal with. We can't plow ice; we can just put down materials."
Temperatures in the upper 20s were allowing chemicals to work, she said, but it takes time to get roads into good winter driving condition.
In Shorewood, a jackknifed semi blocked the westbound lanes of Hwy. 7 at the Hwy. 41 intersection Wednesday morning. The lanes reopened by Wednesday afternoon.
From 7:30 to 11:30 a.m. Wednesday, the State Patrol responded to 82 crashes statewide. Troopers also reported that 85 vehicles had spun out and three semitrailer trucks jackknifed.
In another crash at about 9:45 a.m., several vehicles wound up in the ditch on southbound Hwy. 52 near 80th Street in Inver Grove Heights.
Snowy and icy roads played a factor in two fatal crashes on Tuesday in Aitkin County. Gary Rognrud, 83, of Palisade, Minn., was driving east on Hwy. 210 when he lost control near 257th Avenue in Jevne Township. His pickup collided with an oncoming truck about 8:55 a.m. He was taken to a hospital in Duluth where he later died, the State Patrol said.
In another crash, a semitrailer truck driver died in a one-vehicle crash on Hwy. 65 at S. 1st Street near McGrath, Minn., the patrol said. The truck rolled into the ditch and landed on its side. The driver, Edward Casterlow, 58, was pronounced dead at a hospital in Mora.
With the poor road conditions and no public bus service, high school students in Minneapolis and St. Paul were without a way to class. The St. Paul School District said students who arrived late due to the road conditions would be excused. In Minneapolis, classes went on as scheduled. The district said, "MPS buses are still scheduled to run, but may be late."
Slick conditions and sidewalks led several school districts to open late. Some like Bloomington, Burnsville-Eagan-Savage, Faribault, Hastings, Northfield and Prior Lake-Savage shifted to an e-learning day.
Temperatures rose to around freezing Wednesday and were forecast to drop back into the 20s for highs on Thursday and Friday.
An air quality alert remained in effect through much of Wednesday, the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency said.
