‘Significant impacts’ to traffic expected on part of I-80 in Centre County next week
Drivers may want to avoid a portion of Interstate 80 in Centre County on Wednesday as work continues on a $259 million high-speed interchange project.
Utility crews are to relocate overhead utility wires beginning 9 a.m. Wednesday, the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation wrote in a press release.
The highway agency said it expects “significant impacts” for traffic in both directions on I-80 in the area where it connects with Interstate 99. PennDOT encouraged drivers to either build extra time into their travel schedules or seek other routes.
Pittsburgh-based contractor Trumbull Corp. is to implement rolling slowdowns and stoppages as crews complete the work. Stoppages of 15 consecutive minutes are expected before traffic is released. Work is expected to be completed about 3 p.m.
PennDOT urged eastbound traffic on I-80 to use the highway’s Bellefonte exit, follow state Route 26 and reconnect with the highway at its Jacksonville Road exit. Westbound traffic should use the Lamar exit in Clinton County, follow state Route 64 and reconnect at the Bellefonte exit.
Even if drivers follow those recommended routes, they will not avoid the work zone entirely.
The final phases of the long-awaited, highly-anticipated project will use high-speed ramps to create a direct connection between the top two highways in Centre County. Drivers will no longer need to use Route 26 to access either of the interstates.
Construction began this summer and is to be completed by 2030. About $170 million of the project’s funding came from the $1 trillion federal infrastructure legislation that passed in 2021.
Building the new high-speed interchange is the second phase of a three-part project.
The first involved the construction of a new, $52 million interchange that gave local drivers direct access between Route 26 and I-80. Construction began in 2020 and was completed in 2022.
The final phase is to reconstruct and widen Route 26. State College-based contractor Glenn O. Hawbaker Inc. was named the apparent low bidder at $8.6 million. Work is to begin in 2026.
