PennDOT Closing I-80 Bellefonte Exit for Work on High-Speed Interchange Project

Drivers will encounter a closure of the Bellefonte exit on Interstate 80 eastbound —mostly overnight, though around the clock for a nine-day period — through the remainder of the construction season as work continues on the high-speed interchange project connecting I-80 and I-99.

Overnight closure of Exit 161 and the right lane on I-80 eastbound began Monday and will continue through Aug. 24 to allow the contractor to place barrier and conduct roadway reconstruction, PennDOT wrote in a news release on Wednesday.

The exit will reopen each morning during that period.

While the exit is closed, eastbound traffic will use the crossover lane at mile marker 159.2 to travel across the median onto I-80 westbound. 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 wishing to access I-80 eastbound will first take I-80 westbound to exit 158/Milesburg, then merge onto I-80 eastbound from there.

Starting on Aug. 24, the exit will be closed around the clock for nine days while crews replace a box culvert. Once it is replaced, the closures move back to being nighttime only 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.

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 interchan