Drivers can expect delays in downtown Minneapolis on Tuesday as crews from the Minnesota Department of Transportation (MnDOT) continue patching potholes on Interstate 35W.

The work started Monday, reducing southbound I-35W to a single lane between Hiawatha Avenue and 42nd Street. On Tuesday, northbound I-35W will be down to one lane from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. MnDOT has also been working on Interstate 94 through downtown.

Scores of motorists have hit gaping holes that have opened up on both freeways in recent weeks. Twice last week, MnDOT shut down one lane on eastbound I-94 between the Portland Tunnel and Hiawatha Avenue to put down a temporary asphalt mix to shore up the crumbling pavement. Both times it failed.

This week, MnDOT will use a longer-lasting product that is not available during cold weather to make repairs on both I-94 and I-35W, MnDOT spokeswoman Kirsten Klein said.

In the north metro, the eastbound ramp from Interstate 694 to Rice Street and the ramp from Rice Street to westbound I-694 were closed Monday morning as work on rebuilding the interchange began. Both ramps on the border of Little Canada and Shoreview will be closed for about five months, said Allison Winters, a Ramsey County spokeswoman.

Drivers should follow the posted detours via Little Canada Road or Victoria Street.

Over the next two construction seasons, the county will build a new Rice Street bridge over I-694 and install three roundabouts at intersections nearby. Rice Street will remain open to two-way traffic throughout the project, Winters said.

Tim Harlow • 612-673-7768