PHOTOS: 694 Traffic Crawls Past Crash Site near Matterhorn Drive in Fridley

Fridley streets and the city's stretch of I-694 had their share of spinouts and crashes on Minnesota roads Friday, as fresh snow and ice made road surfaces slippery and braking iffy. 

One incident took place on eastbound I-694 just west of the Matterhorn Drive NE bridge, where a vehicle with front-end damage was on the shoulder, facing traffic. According to Anoka County emergency radio, one vehicle involved in a property-damage crash at that location left the scene; a Fridley police officer had pulled it over on the highway a few minutes later.

Twenty Fridley Crashes
Fridley Police Lt. Mike Monsrud gave this report by email at 3 p.m.:

We have responded to about 20 crashes so far today. I don’t have an exact number at this time as some reports are still being processed. None involved any serious injury. Three accidents were reported as hit and run accidents, but after investigating those reports we were able to determine that none were actually hit and run accidents. IS 694 had the most accidents and the State Patrol was too busy with other accidents to respond so Fridley Police handled them. Slippery road conditions. People need to be reminded to slow down and allow plenty of space between vehicles.

There were 474 crashes statewide, with 247 of those in the metro area, between 5 a.m and 1 p.m., according to the Minnesota State Patrol. Across the state, 60 of the crashes involved injuries, and there were 131 vehicles that left the road or spun out. The metro are had 53 of the personal-injury crashes and 68 vehicles off the road or spun out.