Work for the high-speed interchange project connecting Interstates 80 and 99 is expected to cause “significant” traffic impacts for drivers traveling on I-99 near Bellefonte on Tuesday, Dec. 3.
Rolling slowdowns and stoppages will be implemented beginning at 9 a.m. on I-99 northbound and southbound between the Bellefonte/Zion exit at mile marker 83 and Route 26, according to PennDOT. Drivers should anticipate stoppages of 15 consecutive minutes before the contractor releases queued traffic.
“PennDOT urges drivers to build extra time into their travel schedules as it expects significant impacts for northbound and southbound traffic,” the department wrote in a news release.
Traffic slowdowns and stoppages are expected to take place throughout the day on Tuesday until about 4 p.m. while Verizon, Zito Media and project contractor Trumbull Corporation relocate overhead utility wires All work, however, is weather-dependent.
Work on the long-anticipated $259 million 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, 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.”
Work will be completed over the next six construction seasons, ending in 2030.
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.
