Freeway drivers in Minneapolis should prepare to take the long way around as the Minnesota Department of Transportation closes portions of Interstate 94 and Interstate 35W for another two nights.
Daytime traffic will not be affected by the closures, which start at 10 p.m. Tuesday and Wednesday.
Northbound I-35W will be closed from 10 p.m. Tuesday to 5 a.m. Wednesday, as MnDOT prepares to shift traffic to new lanes as part of the $240 million Downtown to Crosstown reconstruction project. The southbound lanes were closed Monday night into Tuesday.
Interstate 94 will close Tuesday and Wednesday nights as crews clean the Lowry Hill Tunnel and make repairs. Westbound lanes will be shut down from 10 p.m. Tuesday to 5 a.m. Wednesday and both directions will be closed from 10 p.m. Wednesday to 5 a.m. Thursday.
Motorists can use Crosstown Hwy. 62, Hwy. 100 and I-394 to get around the I-35W closures.
Drivers affected by the I-94 closures can also use those routes or exit at Hennepin and Lyndale avenues and use city streets to return to the freeway, MnDOT spokesman David Aeikens said.
Drivers may also find short-term lane and road closures elsewhere Tuesday night as crews wash smaller tunnels on westbound Hwy. 55 to westbound I-94, Hwy. 55 under Minnehaha Parkway and at 5th Street in St. Paul, and the Portland Avenue tunnel on eastbound I-94 on Wednesday night.
"Motorists should plan ahead and give themselves extra time to reach their destination," Aeikens said.
