Work on the high-speed interchange project connecting Interstates 80 and 99 near Bellefonte will cause a detour for some travelers beginning in January.
The detour will be in place starting Jan. 12 on Route 26 southbound between the I-80 exit 161 westbound off-ramp and Forest Avenue, according to PennDOT.
As a result, drivers on I-80 westbound headed to I-99 southbound will not be able to use Bellefonte exit 161. They will instead continue westbound to exit 158 at Milesburg, then get on I-80 eastbound and take the Bellefonte exit to access I-99, PennDOT wrote in a news release on Tuesday.
Traffic heading southbound on Route 26 from Howard toward State College will also be directed onto I-80 westbound to follow the same detour.
The detour is expected to be in place until the end of March.
“All construction schedules are subject to change without notice due to weather or other unforeseen circumstances,” the department wrote.
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.
