I-80 Bellefonte Exit to Be Closed 9 Days for Work on Interchange Project

A Bellefonte exit on Interstate 80 will be closed around the clock for nine days starting Sunday for work on the high-speed interchange project connecting I-80 and I-99, according to PennDOT.

Exit 161 and the right lane of I-80 eastbound will close at 6 p.m. Sunday for the contractor to begin replacement of a box culvert.

During the closure, eastbound traffic will use the crossover lane at mile marker 159.2 to travel across the median onto I-80 westbound, according to PennDOT. Drivers wishing to access I-99 southbound will continue to exit 163/Jacksonville-Howard, then follow I-80 westbound back to the Bellefonte exit.

Traffic from I-99 northbound traveling to I-80 eastbound will first take I-80 westbound to exit 158/Milesburg then merge onto I-80 eastbound from there.

Following completion of the box culvert replacement, the exit will be open during daylight hours but will return to the overnight closure that has been in place since Aug. 10 for the remainder of the construction season.

“Drivers are urged to watch for slow-moving or stopped vehicles throughout the work zone, to exercise caution in all work zones, obey posted speed limits and work zone signage while always buckling up,” PennDOT wrote in a news release on Wednesday.

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 is also underway on the third phase to 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