![A man dropped safety cones on the road to shut down a lane of eastbound I-94 thru the Lowry Hill Tunnel Wednesday night in Minneapolis, Minn., on March 22, 2017. ] RENEE JONES SCHNEIDER • renee.jones@startribune.com](https://arc.stimg.co/startribunemedia/7LDH5XLKPCZLEU7IAU2QMZXN3U.jpg?&w=1080)
The "big squeeze" that will have motorists sharing one side of the Lowry Hill tunnel this summer will be delayed a month by a 4-by-4-inch problem.
The tunnel's vintage yellow tiles proved very difficult to match.
Tunnel tile might seem like a fairly simple element in a $46 million project that includes fixing 50 bridges along Interstate 94 between Nicollet Avenue and Brooklyn Center.
But that style and color of tile isn't widely made anymore, so finding replacements turned out to be a challenge, said Minnesota Department of Transportation spokesman David Aeikens.
As a result, St. Michael-based contractor PCI Roads informed MnDOT this week that work inside the tunnel will begin June 26 instead of mid-May.
The original yellow tile was installed when the tunnel was built in 1969. It is needed to protect the concrete walls from damage.
"MnDOT is only replacing the damaged tiles, so the new pieces have to match," Aeikens said. "We are working to preserve the original look of the tunnel."
MnDOT's contract with PCI Roads allows the company to reschedule aspects of the work "at their discretion," Aeikens said.
![Three weeks ago, Octavio Rodriguez switched from making transmission parts to casting parts for hospital bed brake assemblies at Twin City Die Castings. ] GLEN STUBBE • glen.stubbe@startribune.com Thursday, April 9, 2020 How employee-owned Twin City Die Casting, which just laid off 40 production workers of its 250 employees in what was supposed to be a good year, is trying to accelerate its pivot to growing medical parts business for ventilators, hospital beds, etc as it copes with instan](https://arc.stimg.co/startribunemedia/WNZYKGTZ5IYMUCO3KI5TR3N7WI.jpg?&w=80&ar=1:1&fit=crop)
djoles@startribune.com As boaters flock to Minnesota lakes and rivers this holiday weekend for the unofficial kick-off to the boating season, they'll face more inspections in and out of the water as local cities and counties ramp up their work to stop the spread of invasive species. Across the metro, more boat accesses will be staffed by watercraft inspectors thanks to $10 million funneled to county government programs this year, up from $4.5 million the state allocated last year. ORG XMIT: MIN1505222156290209 ORG XMIT: MIN1506021218440580](https://arc.stimg.co/startribunemedia/34QSKO44B2XKVNUZCO5SLJQSLY.jpg?&w=80&ar=1:1&fit=crop)
