Bud Shuster Highway
Appalachian Thruway

The first section of this Interstate that gives some indigestion to be built was from south of Bedford Springs to Exit 3 in 1969.  Constructed along with the US 30 bypass of Bedford, the part from south of Bedford Springs to the interchange with Business US 30 is a two-lane limited-access design known as a "Super 2."

The 1970s began with this section opening to traffic in the first year of the decade.  In the same year, construction began on the section between Exit 45 and Exit 52 which was originally the Tyrone Bypass of US 220.  Five years later construction commenced on the section from Exit 3 to the Bedford/Blair County line.  In 1976, the Tyrone Bypass opened to traffic.

The section between Exit 3 and a temporary exit to take traffic back to the original US 220 alignment at current Exit 15 started in 1975 and was completed five years later.  Blair County would finally see construction taking place in 1982, when the section between the Newry Lane underpass to Exit 31 was started.  Just as in Bedford County, the segment was built along with a US route being upgraded to an expressway which was the US 22 expressway to Ebensburg.  Construction was extended from Exit 31 to Exit 33 two years later.  In 1986, this section from a temporary Newry Lane interchange to Exit 33 opened to traffic which alleviated congestion in downtown Altoona.  With that completed, attention turned to the section between the temporary interchanges at Exit 15 and Newry Lane which became marked as proposed on the 1986 Department of Transportation map.  It wouldn't take long for that gray, dashed line to be turned into a colored one as construction began on it the following year.  In 1988, the section from a new temporary interchange at PA 164 to the one at Newry Lane opened, which prompted its closure.  The final year of the 1980s saw the segment between Exit 15 and the temporary interchange at PA 164 open and that temporary interchange close.

After the Bedford to Altoona link had been completed, there was the gap between Altoona and Tyrone to close.  Construction began in 1991 to close that gap between Exit 33 and Exit 45.  It opened to traffic in 1995, creating an uninterrupted route from south of Bedford Springs to north of Tyrone:  free of cross traffic, traffic signals, and slow trucks trying to navigate narrow, mountainous, old US 220.

However, not all things were quiet on the Central Front.  In 1996, Representative Bud Shuster who acquired funds for the upgrading of US 220, had this highway designated an Interstate in Section 322 of the National Highway System Designation Act of 1995. Something that I agreed should have happened; that is where the agreeing stops! Bud had his highway designated I-99 and had the designation written into law.  It was bad enough it runs past his son's car dealership, and violate Interstate highway numbering system too!  It should have been numbered I-576, 776, or 976.  I like the last...a fitting number for someone that had been under investigation for illegal highway funding acts, and was reprimanded by the House ethics committee for accepting improper gifts and favoring a lobbyist by the name of Ann M. Eppard as The Washington Post reported.  In September 2000, the Committee on Standards of Official Conduct criticized Shuster for "serious official misconduct" but did not penalize him any further.

On January 4, 2001 Bud Shuster announced he was retiring after 14-terms in the House of Representatives due to recent "health scares."  He said he didn't want to wait until the end of his term because he didn't want to become a lame duck; however it's OK do damage the numbering system and name a highway after himself.  We thought maybe we had finally gotten rid of the name Shuster in congress; however, we were wrong. In March 2001, his son Bill announced he would run for his father's vacant seat.  He won the May 15 election by 52% over his opponent Scott Conklin (D).

After almost four years of construction, the next section to open was from the Mount Nittany Expressway to the Bellefonte Bypass on November 25, 2002.  Ribbon cutting ceremonies started at 10 AM at the Park Avenue interchange near Beaver Stadium, which marked the official opening of the expressway.

Piece of ceremonial ribbon used at the opening of the
section from US 322 to PA 26.
(PennDOT; courtesy of Geoff Hatchard)

The official name of the project was the PA 26 Relocation Project, which started in January 1999 and cost $195 million to build.  The Bellefonte Bypass section of the expressway was built in 1971 and opened in 1972 as a "Super-2" expressway, a two-lane expressway built on a four-lane right-of-way.  In 1997, the other lanes were built to make it a four-lane highway.  As other expressway projects in Pennsylvania, an open house was held on October 26, 2002 called a "Roll & Stroll."  Around 1,000 people are estimated to have walked, biked, skated and strolled along the new expressway.  A four-mile race to benefit the United Way of Centre County was held on the right-of-way, with Penn State's ROTC cadets participating with the public.  This section will not officially become part of I-99 until 2007 when the Bald Eagle to Mount Nittany Expressway section is completed.

Looking northward at the interchange with US 322 in State College in Summer 2002.  (PennDOT)

Looking north on the southbound lanes near Harrison Road.  (Michael Brand)

Looking southbound across PA 144 near Bellefonte in April 2000. (Michael Brand)

Overpass at PA 144 under construction in October 2000.  (Michael Brand)

Looking north on the southbound lanes at the I-99/PA 26/PA 64 interchange.  The ramp above leads from I-99 south to PA 26/PA 64.  (Michael Brand)

After seven years of construction, and delays involving pyritic rock, a portion of the Bald Eagle-to-State College segment opened on December 17, 2007.  The northbound lanes from PA 350 to Skytop Mountain and southbound lanes from Port Matilda to PA 350 were supposed to open thirteen days earlier, but the opening was postponed to give crews more time to prepare.  The opening was then moved to December 13 before it was cancelled due to winter weather.

While clean-up of acid rock keeps the southbound side of the expressway closed, US
220 has had its northbound and southbound directions split.

Even though the cleanup of the acid rock continues, PennDOT decided to open as many completed sections to move as much traffic off the antiquated US 220 as possible.  The Interstate 99 designation can not be applied to this section until the legislation to do so is passed in Congress because of how it originated.  Northbound traffic will use a temporary ramp on Skytop to rejoin the existing alignment.  While the southbound lanes are still closed for acid rock clean-up operations, traffic will continue to use the old alignment and join the new expressway at the Port Matilda interchange.

Before construction began, traffic was narrowed to one lane and forced to exit at PA 350.

During construction, traffic must detour onto a temporary roadway.  In the middle is the former stub end and where the large dump trucks are parked is the old exit ramp.

Links:
Exit Guide
Interstate 99 Ends
Interstate 99 Pictures
I-99/US 220 Construction Progress Map
I-99/US 15 Construction Progress Map
US 220
EcoCheck 99-The Environmental Influence of Pennsylvania Interstate 99 - Juniata College
Road to Ruin-US 220/US 322 - Taxpayers for Common Sense
Susquehanna Beltway - PennDOT
Vision 2020:  Living with I-99
Future Interstate 99-North of I-80 - Brian Polidoro
I-99 Interchange Browser - Tim Reichard
I-99/US 220 Construction Pictures - Tim Reichard
Interstate 99 - Andy Field/Alex Nitzman
Interstate 99 - David Steinberg
Interstate 99 in Centre County - Geoff Hatchard
Interstate 99 Pictures - Andy Field/Alex Nitzman
ISTEA/NHS/TEA-21 High Priority Corridor 9 - Andy Field/Alex Nitzman
Kurumi's Trippy Drive '71 - Scott Oglesby

UNDER CONSTRUCTION BALD EAGLE TO MOUNT NITTANY EXPRESSWAY Construction began in fall of 2000 from Port Matilda to State College with completion originally scheduled for late 2003, but has now been pushed to late 2008.  Project website:  http://i99.dickinfolink.com/. Bald Eagle to Port Matilda - PennDOT Port Matilda to State College - PennDOT In February 2004, construction hit a snag when crews unearthed vast quantities of acid rock at Skytop Mountain.  Gary Byron, assistant regional director for the state Department of Environmental Protection said he has never seen a bigger potential for stream damage than the uncovering of this material.  "It's the worst I've seen, and I've been here 27 years," he said.  "The bottom line is, PennDOT's environmental-impact work for I-99 missed this geologic formation."  Between 500,000 and one million cubic yards of acid rock, previously sealed in geologic formations, is now exposed to rainwater that drains into Buffalo Run which is a tributary of Spring Creek.  Byron went on to say that the rock "is rare, but it is very wicked in chemical composition."  Soda ash briquettes are being used to neutralize the acidic drainage as it washes into the stream.  On March 8, the Department of Environmental Protection shut down construction in a half-mile section until a solution could be reached.  By August, the run-off had contaminated 19 wells requiring one home to have bottled water to supplant the contaminated liquid coming out of the faucets.  Three wells became contaminated during a 90 minute hearing in Harrisburg about the acid rock run-off. A sediment basin near the PA 550 overpass used to monitor run-off.  The right-of-way of the Interstate is on the right side behind the orange safety fence.   Stormwater basin on the side of PA 550 near the overpass.   Well to monitor seepage into the groundwater. Removal of the pyritic rock is now in the hands, or trucks, of an Indiana County company.  A $26 million contract to haul piles of approximately 650,000 cubic yards of the rock 75 miles away to a fly ash pit near Ebensburg was signed by Robindale Energy Services in January 2006.  An additional $14 million will go to covering up the 400,000 cubic yards that will remain on Skytop Ridge.  When started, hopefully this summer, the operation will have 50 trucks making three round trips a day for 200 days or 30,000 truckloads.  The fly ash in the mine will help neutralize the sulfuric acid.  The other option PennDOT explored was building an "engineered rock placement area" to dump the pyritic rock on Skytop.  A third option to use Bauxsol was dismissed in 2005.  Even though it worked effectively, the state determined it would be too difficult to apply it to all of the affected areas. Some of the rock will have to stay on the ridge, either on a rock face or to act as support for the Interstate.  To shield it from oxygen and water, the areas will be covered with three layers of impermeable plastic as well as lime-kiln dust and synthetic webbing. In April 2006, Transportation Secretary Allen Biehler announced the total cost of clean up would be $50.5 million.  By 2008, the cost rose to $79 million because of two factors.  Two years earlier oil was trading at $70/barrel and officials were expecting to only have to truck 667,000 cubic yards, rather than 1 million cubic yards, of rock to the disposal site. Acid Rock Drainage - PennDOT District 2 View from PA 550 looking towards the current US 220/US 322 alignment and future Interstate alignment.  The bridge is an overpass for I-99.   Bridges over Sellers Lane just west of State College.   Looking southbound towards Bald Eagle Mountain at the Gray's Wood interchange in Summer 2002. (PennDOT)   Facing southbound on Bald Eagle Mountain in September 2002.  The highway running through the picture is the current alignment for US 220/US 322.  (PennDOT)   Facing northeast from Port Matilda towards State College in September 2002.  (PennDOT) INTERCHANGE WITH I-80 Currently this is a modified diamond interchange.  The new interchange will be a new expressway to expressway, high-speed, semi-directional Y at the location of the current Exit 161.  An additional exit for local highways will be constructed east of the interchange.  For a detailed plan of the interchange, see http://www.pahighways.com/interstates/I80-I99interchange.pdf. On March 6, 2006, PennDOT announced changes to the interchange to avoid a similar fate to the Skytop Mountain section.  The revised plan moves the interchange closer to Nittany Creek, reduces the amount of material to be moved by 400,000 cubic yards, and retaining walls instead of hillside excavation.  The discovery of pyrite is not new as PennDOT had known about it for two years and as more surveying and core borings took place, the necessity of reducing the impact of the interchange on the seam became more apparent.  The changes will not result in any cost savings, but compared to paying for remediation of the acid rock drainage, it will end up cheaper than the alternative.  Bidding on the $80 million high-speed interchange will begin in December 2008, but the local interchanges at Jacksonville Road and I-80 at Shay Lane are scheduled to be bid at the end of 2006. NORTH OF I-80 According to Eric High, project engineer for PennDOT District 3, it has not been decided to extend the I-99 designation to I-86 in New York state via US 220 and US 15 as of yet.  There are two gaps in the expressway between I-80 and Williamsport:  I-80 to Salona and Jersey Shore to Williamsport.  Environmental studies and preliminary engineering began by summer 2000 for the Jersey Shore to Williamsport section.  The I-80 to Salona section is not as far in the construction process.  PennDOT is studying traffic patterns to determine where to connect the expressway to I-80.  However, with the release in 2004 of the revised 12-Year Transportation Program, both segments are up in the air due to being deferred.  However, I-99 milemarkers have appeared on the expressway from PA 477 to PA 287. Future I-99 Corridor sign southbound near Trout Run.

INFORMATION

Southern Terminus:	Business US 220 in Bedford.
Northern Terminus:	PA 350 in Tyrone.
Length:	51 miles
National Highway System:	Entire length
Names:	Appalachian Thruway Bud Shuster Highway:  Exit 1 to Exit 52
SR Designation:	SR 0099
Counties:	Bedford and Blair
Multiplexed Route:	US 220:  Entire length
Former Designation:	None
Emergency:	911
Traffic Cameras:	Cross Keys Plank Road Frankstown Road 17th Street PA 350 SR 3042 US 322 Weaverhill Road
Travel Radio:	1630