Drivers should anticipate delays on Tuesday as a contractor sets bridge beams for the high-speed interchange project connecting Interstates 80 and 99 in Centre County, according to PennDOT.
Crews will be stopping traffic for up to 15 minutes at a time between 8 a.m. and 2 p.m. Tuesday at the junction of I-99 and Jacksonville Road near Bellefonte. The work involves setting bridge beams at the I-80 eastbound bridge that spans Jacksonville Road.
“Drivers traveling this area are urged to build extra time into their travel schedules and exercise caution while traveling through the work zone,” PennDOT wrote in a news release. “Those familiar with the area may wish to consider alternate routes.”
After Tuesday, motorists may sporadically encounter flaggers in the roadway while the bridge beam diaphragms are installed and the bridge deck pans are placed. That work will take place as weather permits.
The work is part of a $259 million project that 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 10 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.
Trumbull Corporation of Pittsburgh is the contractor on the project, which is scheduled for completion in 2030.
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.
The current phase of work is supported by $170 million provided from the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act of 2021.
