For many years, truckers and motorists had to transfer to SR 26 and other lower speed roads to transition from I-99 to I-80, one of the most important east-west highways in the country.
Signalized traffic mixed with local traffic from the nearby community of Bellefonte to create congestion and angst. Trucks compose approximately 50 percent of the traffic on these interstates.
PennDOT is working with lead contractor Trumbull on a design-build effort to smooth the transition from one busy interstate to another. Once the project is finished, local traffic will be able to move normally, unimpeded by a multitude of tractor-trailers trundling daily through the area.
The cost of the high-speed interchange and accompanying work will be approximately $260 million. Commercial traffic and motorists will be able to avoid stops now in place and will be able to reach their destinations more swiftly and safely.
PennDOT photo
PennDOT and partners recently have completed two other road projects to make this high-speed corridor feasible. At the end of 2022, workers completed the I-80 Local Access Interchange. This diamond interchange enabled motorists to enjoy easier access between SR 26 and I-80. The second project, completed in 2023, was called Jacksonville Road Betterment. The newly configured SR 26 has 11-ft. travel lanes and 4-ft. shoulders.
Project engineers Caleb Meighen and Paul Hall are supervising the current project for PennDOT.
"By eliminating the stop for vehicles transitioning between the two interstates, we will remove points of conflict and some long lines for vehicles trying to enter the freeways," said Meighen. "This is especially important when big events are happening at State College."
Events like home football games and "move in" days at nearby Penn State University can snarl roads as they are currently configured. Trumbull and other contractors will keep construction activities managed during those busy times.
The project will require 12 new bridges, five box culverts and four wall structures totaling 7,570 linear ft. of walls including sound walls. Workers will use 300,000 tons of asphalt to build the new roads. Grannas Brothers from Hollidaysburg will handle the paving. Grannas will be building a pavement topped with stone-matrix asphalt (SMA), an extremely durable road material that is now standard for interstates in Pennsylvania. The new roads will be full-depth construction. The company expects to use trucks, pavers, material transfer vehicles and rollers in a traditional manner for the work.
First Year Well Under Way
With year one under way of the high speed Interchange project, workers are planning an enormous amount of earthwork. When the job is complete, workers will have moved 1.3 million cu. yds. of dirt and rock. The team will be using dozers, articulated trucks, excavators, skid steers, backhoes and additional equipment for the job.
The construction team also will be building embankments, constructing a single-span bridge over Jacksonville Road and demolishing some existing structures.
PennDOT photo
"Trumbull also will be building the longest wall of the project along the westbound side once we have finished with excavation," said Meighen. "We have just completed the utility realignment."
Work on the bridges is in the preliminary stages with the construction team planning 12,500 ft. of pre-drilling.
"It looks like the pilings will not need to be too deep," said Meighen. "We are using traditional drill rigs for the piles and also use spread footers for some of the bridges that will not require pilings."
The team is planning to do extensive work on bridges this year, including a flyover for one of the interstates.
Hall emphasized the progression of activities this year.
"We are being efficient and careful. There is a lot of work happening in a small area."
Some of the workers have a special interest in getting the box culverts done right.
"We will be making five new stream improvements, 3,200 feet in all," Hall said. "One of them carries high quality wild trout. So, the fishermen in the area will be glad to see how we handle this stream."
The new bridges will have epoxy overlays and provide good skid resistance as well as weather resistance. The overly will keep road salt and other winter treatments away from the steel and concrete in the bridge. PennDOT expects the new bridges to have a life of at least 50 years.
Hall believes 2026 will be the year for maximum construction activity on the project, with a finish line in 2030. That will require nine phases of traffic relocations and two detours during construction. Crews will be doing some night work, to allow good traffic flow on the interstates. CEG
