Drivers should expect delays starting Monday on Interstates 80 and 99 in Centre County as rolling slowdowns are implemented for work on the high-speed interchange connecting the two highways, according to PennDOT
Rolling slowdowns will occur on I-80 between mile markers 158 and 161 eastbound and mile markers 163 and 161 westbound. On I-99, they will take place between mile marker 83 and Route 26.
Slowdowns will be approximately 15 minutes in duration and will occur every three to five days over the next several weeks.
“Drivers are asked to stay alert for slowing traffic and to be prepared for delays and stops,” according to PennDOT.
Trumbull Corporation of Pittsburgh is the contractor on the $259 million interchange project, which will create a direct connection between I-80 and I-99 via high-speed ramps constructed in Boggs, Spring and Marion townships in the area of the current Bellefonte I-80 exit. It will eliminate the need to travel along Route 26 to access either highway, remove stop-controlled intersections and realign service to local traffic.
Overall construction will include building the interchange, along with ten bridges, four retaining walls, five box culverts, seven sign structures and three changeable message boards, according to PennDOT. It will also include new and reconstructed roadways and ramps, drainage improvements, installing Intelligent Transportation Devices, guide rail and highway lighting, pavement marking, stream improvements and miscellaneous other construction.
The project is scheduled for completion in 2030. Funding includes $170 million provided from the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act of 2021.
The interchange is the second and largest phase of a three-phase project. Work also recently began on the third phase, which will reconstruct and widen Route 26/Jacksonville Road from the I-80 Bellefonte exit to Shay Lane in Marion Township.
After Pennsylvania received a $35 million federal grant for the interchange project in 2018, work began in 2020 on the $52 million first phase to create a new local access interchange about 2 miles east of the I-80 Bellefonte exit. The new exit 163, completed in 2022, provides access for local traffic to Jacksonville Road, which will no longer be available from the current Bellefonte exit once the high-speed interchange is complete.
