Bellefonte interchange project to get boost from federal funds

Pennsylvania will receive $85.4 million in federal funds over the next five years to help complete major projects in Centre and Snyder counties and continue design on an extension of Route 219 in Somerset County to the Maryland border.

The funding is part of $1.2 billion over five years announced Tuesday by the U.S. Department of Transportation for the Appalachian Development Highway System. That system, which covers 13 states from New York to Mississippi, was created in 1965 to encourage more interstate highway development in rural areas that often were overlooked because of the rugged terrain.

The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation will use the money to help complete two projects in the state:

▪ A $175 million high-speed interchange for Interstate 80 and Interstate 99 in Centre County, which will allow motorists to avoid local roads to move from one highway to the other;

▪ The 12.5 mile, $865 million Central Susquehanna Valley Thruway, joining Snyder, Union and Northumberland counties.

Additionally, the state plans to use some of the funds to continue developing plans for a 14-mile extension of Route 219 from Meyersdale to Grantsville, PennDOT spokesperson Alexis Campbell said.

Campbell said the state is “grateful” for the funds, which are part of the federal infrastructure bill approved by Congress and represent a 146% yearly increase over previous funding. Federal officials said the system is about 85% complete and should be finished by 2040.

“Ensuring rural regions are connected to the rest of America’s cities and towns is key to our nation’s economic success,” said Stephanie Pollack, deputy federal highway administrator. “That’s why releasing the dedicated funding that the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law provided for the Appalachian Development Highway System is a priority for the Biden-Harris Administration.”

Pennsylvania has nine segments of the 3,090-mile system, most of it in the central part of the state.