Heading to Penn State Football’s Season Opener? What to Know About Road Work, Traffic

Penn State football will kick off the Matt Campbell era at 3:30 p.m. on Saturday, and fans traveling to the game from outside of State College are likely to encounter road work and possible traffic congestion along the way.

PennDOT is encouraging drivers plan their trip using enhanced real-time travel information that will be available starting the Thursday before each Nittany Lion home game on a specialized web page at www.511PA.com/map/page/PSF.

The 511PA Penn State football page monitors traffic conditions on the primary travel routes to Beaver Stadium. It provides travel times and alerts, as well as alternate routes for each parking zone: West Zone (access via Atherton Street to Park Avenue); East Zone (access via U.S. 322/I-99 to Park Avenue); North Zone (access via Fox Hollow Road); and South Zone (access via University Drive and Porter Road from College Avenue/U.S. 26).

Users can select displays of current traffic speeds, traffic incidents. Travelers can also use the “My Routes tab” to see traffic information from their specific location.

The page also includes a Beaver Stadium parking map.

Beaver Stadium lots open at 8 a.m., and the one-way gameday traffic patterns will go into effect at 1 p.m., or earlier as traffic dictates.

A number of ongoing road projects may impact traffic to Beaver Stadium this season:

Centre County

• Work on a high-speed interchange connecting I-80 and I-99 near Bellefonte is ongoing in a work zone that stretches between mile markers 158 and 161.

I-80 eastbound exit 161/Bellefonte is closed during nighttime hours for the remainder of this construction season. 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.

On I-80 westbound, the contractor is maintaining two lanes of traffic through this work zone by keeping the right (travel) lane open and shifting traffic onto the shoulder.

• I-80 eastbound between mile markers 154 and 158 in Boggs and Snow Shoe Townships is reduced to one lane with a 12-foot width restriction for a preservation project.

• The left (passing) lane of I-99 southbound is closed for approximately half a mile at exit 61/Port Matilda for an ongoing concrete preservation project.

• Nighttime single lane closures will be in place along I-99 northbound between mile markers 58 and 79 from mid-September until late October before shifting to the southbound lanes in mid-November. The lane closures are for a project to restore and rehabilitate the approach slabs of several bridges.

Centre & Clinton Counties:

• An I-80 eastbound and westbound is down to a single lane from mile marker 165 to 171 for a roadway rehabilitation project. PennDOT anticipates these alternating lane closures to be in place until early November.

Clearfield County:

• An I-80 preservation project is ongoing between mile markers 97 and 120. Westbound traffic will encounter a right (travel) lane closure at exit 97/Brockway-DuBois. The contract for the project stipulates that no work will take place from Friday through Sunday during the week of home football games.

Juniata County:

• A bridge preservation project is ongoing. The left lane on Route 22 westbound is closed for approximately 2.5 miles as work progresses. On Route 22 eastbound, the right (travel) lane will be closed while work on the bridge spanning Route 333 continues.

Juniata & Mifflin counties:

• A restoration project along Route 22 continues. The left lanes of Route 22 eastbound and westbound are closed for approximately four miles between Lewistown and Arch Rock through the narrows. The contractor is required to have all lanes open on the Friday before and Saturday of Penn State home games and cannot reimplement the closures until the following Monday.

Mifflin County:

• Work on Route 22/734 continues in Granville Township. The contractor plans to close the left lane of Route 22 eastbound and westbound in early September before switching to the right lane in early October. Project completion is anticipated around Veteran’s Day.