Drivers can expect to start seeing lane closures on Interstates 80 and 99 in Centre County as work resumes on the $259 million project to construct a high-speed interchange connecting the two major highways, according to PennDOT.
Starting Monday, the contractor will begin excavating along I-80 westbound between mile markers 160 and 158. PennDOT urged motorists to be alert for trucks entering and exiting the road, and to not follow them behind concrete barriers.
Also beginning on Monday, flaggers will be on Route 26 between the eastbound and westbound off-ramps of I-80 daily starting at 7 a.m. until at least March 7 while crews complete excavation and drainage installation.
On Tuesday evening, the right lane of I-80 eastbound between mile markers 158 and 161 will be closed at 6 p.m. for what PennDOT expects will be a one-night closure, with the lane reopening by 6 a.m. Wednesday.
The week of March 10, overnight, single-lane closures are expected on I-99 while concrete barriers are placed for a long-term traffic control pattern.
Work on the long-anticipated interchange project began in September. Once completed, the interchange 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.
Trumbull Corporation of Pittsburgh is the contractor on the interchange project, which will be completed over the next six construction seasons, ending in 2030. Funding for the project 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. The third, $6.9 million phase will reconstruct and widen Route 26/Jacksonville Road from the I-80 Bellefonte exit to Shay Lane in Marion Township. Excavation work for that phase started in November and active construction will begin this year.
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.
