Work inside the Portland Avenue tunnel on eastbound I-94 will put drivers on detour during the overnight hours from Tuesday night to Wednesday morning, the Minnesota Department of Transportation said.

Drivers will be directed south on I-35W to 46th Street where they will be able to turn around and head back north on I-35W and access eastbound I-94.

The detour will be in place from 11 p.m. Tuesday until 5 a.m. Monday. At the same time, the ramp from eastbound I-394 to eastbound I-94 also will be closed, MnDOT said.

During the closure, crews will be replacing tiles inside the tunnel, patching leaks in the ceiling and other "minor repairs," said spokesman David Aeikens.

The work is part of the MnDOT's I-94 Minneapolis to Brooklyn Center project that started in March. In that project, the agency is repaving nine miles of the freeway and rehabilitating 50 bridges beteween Shingle Creek Parkway and Nicollet Avenue S.

Currently traffic is sharing one side of the Lowry HIll Tunnel with two lanes of traffic in each direction. That configuration will remain in place until early September.