Clearfield, PA – The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT) announced that the contractor for its High-Speed Interchange between Interstates 80 and 99 plans to place concrete barriers on Route 26 between Route 1005 (Forest Avenue) and the I-80 eastbound ramps on Thursday, June 19. The barrier placement will offer protection to crews widening the roadway underneath the I-80 bridges spanning Route 26.
Flaggers in the roadway will provide traffic control while the contractor places the barrier. PennDOT anticipates this work will take a day to complete, weather permitting. Traffic on this section of Route 26 will then return to its original pattern. However, PennDOT reminds drivers that the road is only open to northbound traffic heading toward Howard/Jacksonville Road starting at the I-80 westbound ramps.
Placing barriers and widening the roadway is part of the project to enhance traffic safety by providing a direct connection between the two Interstates, making it unnecessary to travel along Route 26 to access them, relieving traffic congestion, and realigning service for local traffic. Overall work includes building the interchange, ten bridges, four retaining walls, five box culverts, seven sign structures, and three changeable message boards. It also includes constructing new and rebuilding existing roadways and ramps, drainage improvements, installing intelligent transportation devices, guide rail, highway lighting, marking pavement, stream improvements, and miscellaneous construction. Work will continue through the next six construction seasons, ending in 2030.
Trumbull Corporation of Pittsburgh, PA, is the contractor on this $259 million project. Approximately $170 million of the funding comes from the federal Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL).
The high-speed interchange is the next phase of a three-phase project. The first involved the construction of the local access interchange at mile marker 163, which provided direct access between Route 26 and I-80 for local traffic and took place over three seasons between 2020 and 2022. The contract value was $52 million. That phase benefited from a $35 million federal Infrastructure for Rebuilding American (INFRA) grant.
The other phase will reconstruct and widen Route 26 to maintain and support the State roadway network. It will feature 11-foot travel lanes and 4-foot shoulders. Excavation work for that project started in November. Active construction on that project will begin in the 2025 construction season.
Completing all three phases will support the regional freight economy and improve the reliability of roadway travel throughout the region.
Motorists can check conditions on major roadways by visiting www.511PA.com. 511PA, which is free and available 24 hours a day, provides traffic delay warnings, weather forecasts, traffic speed information, and access to more than 1,000 traffic cameras. 511PA is also available through a smartphone application for iPhone and Android devices, by calling 5-1-1, or by following regional X alerts.
Subscribe to PennDOT news and traffic alerts in Cameron, Centre, Clearfield, Clinton, Elk, Juniata, McKean, Mifflin, and Potter counties at www.penndot.pa.gov/District2.
Information about infrastructure in District 2, including completed work and significant projects, is available at http://www.penndot.pa.gov/D2Results. Find PennDOT’s planned and active construction projects at https://gis.penndot.pa.gov/paprojects/.
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MEDIA CONTACT: Timothy Nebgen, tnebgen@pa.gov or 814-765-0598
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