Construction of a long-awaited high-speed interchange between two major highways in Centre County is just about ready to get underway.
Work on the $259 million project connecting Interstates 80 and 99 will commence on Wednesday, Sept. 4, PennDOT announced on Tuesday.
The direct connection between I-80 and I-99 via high-speed ramps will be constructed in Boggs, Spring and Marion townships in the area of the current Bellefonte I-80 exit. Once completed, it will eliminate the need to travel along Route 26 to access either highway, remove stop-controlled intersections and realign service to local traffic.
The project will take place over the next six construction seasons, ending in 2030.
Initial work will involve shoulder reconstruction and widening on I-80 eastbound and westbound between mile markers 158 and 163, according to PennDOT. Starting Sept. 4, traffic will be reduced to one lane between 6 p.m. and 6 a.m.
Shoulder reconstruction is expected to last about two months, but all work is weather dependent.
Crews also will perform excavation work off the roadway during daylight hours, and though that is not expected to impact traffic, PennDOT urged drivers to exercise caution in all work zones.
Trumbull Corporation of Pittsburgh, which was awarded the bid in June, is the contractor on the project. Approximately $170 million of the funding for the $259 million project comes from the federal Bipartisan Infrastructure Law passed in 2021.
Overall work will include “building the interchange, ten bridges, four retaining walls, five box culverts, seven sign structures and three changeable message boards,” according to PennDOT. “It also includes constructing new and rebuilding existing roadways and ramps, drainage improvements, installing Intelligent Transportation Devices, guide rail and highway lighting, pavement marking, stream improvements and miscellaneous construction.”
The interchange is the second and largest phase of a three-phase project. The third phase, which will reconstruct and widen Route 26/Jacksonville Road from the I-80 Bellefonte exit to Shay Lane in Marion Township, is projected to cost $6.9 million. It is expected to begin this year and continue into the 2026 construction season.
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.
