The Minnesota Department of Transportation will reduce southbound I-35E through Maplewood and St. Paul to a single lane during the midday hours Tuesday and the agency is warning motorists to expect significant delays.

A better plan might to be to take an alternate route.

The lane closures will be in place from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. between Maryland Avenue and I-94. MnDOT will be restripping the road to mark the new MnPass Lane, which will open on Monday.

Drivers might not expect the lane restrictions as MnDOT originally planned to do the work on Wednesday. But things were moved up to Tuesday to allow crews to take advantage of the warm weather.

"With very cold temperatures occurring at night, we’re doing the work during the day in warmer temperatures to ensure that the striping adheres to the pavement properly," the agency said.