Interstate 99
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This article has been tagged for cleanup for the following reasons: Article and exit list not compliant with WP:IH.
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| Interstate 99 Main route of the Interstate Highway System |
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| Length: | 51.2 mi[citation needed] (82.4 km) | ||||
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| Formed: | Written into law: 1995 Approved by AASHTO: 1998 |
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| South end: |    I-70/I-76 near Bedford, PA |
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| North end: |  US 220 near Bald Eagle, PA |
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Interstate 99 (abbreviated I-99) is a main route of the Interstate Highway System in central Pennsylvania. It presently runs 51.2 miles (82.4 km)[1], all concurrent with U.S. Route 220, from an indirect connection with the Pennsylvania Turnpike (Interstate 70 and Interstate 76) near Bedford north past Altoona to a temporary terminus near Bald Eagle. Immediate plans will extend it northeast past State College to Interstate 80 near Bellefonte. More long-term plans take it northeast to Williamsport and then north along U.S. Route 15 to Interstate 86 near Corning, New York.
In addition to U.S. Route 220, the full route of I-99 is part of Corridor O of the Appalachian Development Highway System, which runs along US 220 from Interstate 68 near Cumberland, Maryland north onto I-99 near Bedford, ending at I-80 near Bellefonte. It is also known as the Bud Shuster Highway and Appalachian Thruway; the latter name continues north with US 220 and US 15.
Unlike most Interstate numbers, which are assigned by AASHTO to fit into a grid, I-99's number was written into the National Highway Designation Act of 1995 by Bud Shuster, then-chair of the U.S. House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure. It had been designated as a High Priority Corridor by the Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act of 1991. The number was not chosen to fit the grid, as it lies between Interstate 79 and Interstate 81, and no suitable two-digit number was available. However, many suitable three-digit route numbers were available, such as I-370 or I-576.
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[edit] Major cities
[edit] History
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This article or section contains information about a planned or expected future road. It may contain information of a speculative nature and the content may change dramatically as the road's construction and/or completion approaches and more information becomes available. |
Corridor O of the Appalachian Development Highway System was assigned in 1965, running from Cumberland, Maryland (Corridor E, now Interstate 68) to Bellefonte, Pennsylvania (Interstate 80) along U.S. Route 220. The portion in Pennsylvania, from Bedford north to Bald Eagle, was upgraded to a freeway in stages from 1970 to 1995.
As the interchange with the Pennsylvania Turnpike near Bedford was built long before the new freeway opened, there is no direct freeway-to-freeway access between the Turnpike (I-70 and I-76) and I-99. Traffic must use U.S. Route 220 Business, the old alignment of US 220 before the freeway.
In 1991, the Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act (ISTEA) was signed into law. It included a number of High Priority Corridors, one of which - Corridor 9 - ran along US 220 from Bedford to Williamsport, Pennsylvania, and then north on U.S. Route 15 to Corning, New York.
The National Highway Designation Act of 1995 amended ISTEA; among these amendments were that "the portion of the route referred to in subsection (c)(9) [Corridor 9] is designated as Interstate Route I-99." This was the first Interstate number to be written into law rather than assigned by the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO). (Interstate 73 and the extension of Interstate 74 had been defined in 1991 by ISTEA as the "I-73/74 North-South Corridor", but not officially added to the Interstate Highway System or assigned those numbers.)
On November 6, 1998, AASHTO approved the I-99 designation from Bedford to Bald Eagle. Since then, the connection through the Nittany Valley between the existing State College bypass on U.S. Route 322 and Interstate 80 has been built (the northernmost piece was widened from a two-lane freeway in 1997). On its completion in 2002, U.S. Route 220 was rerouted via US 322 and the new road, and the old US 220 north of US 322 was designated U.S. Route 220 Alternate.
The road through the Bald Eagle Valley between Bald Eagle and State College is presently under construction, and the interchange with I-80 is not up to freeway standards. Construction has been delayed since 2004 by complaints from the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection about acidic surface runoff from unearthed pyritic rock leaking into the groundwater and nearby creeks draining to the Bald Eagle Creek. Excavation began in late 2002, and a year later, more than 3 million cubic meters of excavation spoils had been generated, with up to 30% from a 200 meter vein of Ordovician sandstone containing iron sulfide, or iron pyrite. When exposed to air and water, these minerals produced sulfuric acid, contaminating both surface runoff and groundwater[2].
PennDOT halted construction in March 2004 to give full attention to resolving the environmental problem posed by the massive pyritic rock piles. As of late 2006, the remediation plan had not been finalized. Original plans to truck the contaminated spoils to strip mine pits were blocked by local opposition at the disposal sites, and the plans were abandoned. Current plans call for moving the piles to another point along the I-99 right-of-way.
Bill S.719 of 2005, sponsored by Paul Sarbanes of Maryland, would have extended Corridor O south to Corridor H in West Virginia.
As defined in Federal law, I-99 is to continue north to Corning, New York. Signs have been placed along the present U.S. Route 220 and U.S. Route 15, much of which are built to freeway standards, marking the route as the "Future I-99 Corridor".
[edit] Exit list
Shields are shown at intersections with other Interstates.
| Number | Mile | Municipality | Destinations | Notes |
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| Bedford Borough | Bedford | |||
| Bedford Township | U.S. Route 30 - Everett/Breezewood/Greensburg | |||
| 1 | Bedford Township | Interstate 70/Pennsylvania Turnpike/Interstate 76 - Pittsburgh/Harrisburg |
I-99 begins northbound and ends southbound along U.S. Route 220 | |
| 3 | Bedford Township | Route 56 - Johnstown/Cessna | ||
| 7 | East St. Clair Township | Route 869 - St. Clairsville/Osterburg | ||
| 10 | King Township | Blue Knob State Park | ||
| 15 | Greenfield Township | Claysburg/King | ||
| 23 | Freedom Township | Route 36/Route 164 to U.S. Route 22 east - Roaring Spring/Portage/Hollidaysburg | ||
| 28 | Allegheny Township | U.S. Route 22 west - Ebensburg/Hollidaysburg | ||
| 31 | Logan Township | Plank Road | ||
| 32 | Logan Township | to Route 36 - Frankstown Road | ||
| 33 | Logan Township | 17th Street | ||
| 39 | Antis Township | Route 764 south - Pinecroft | ||
| 41 | Antis Township | Route 865 north - Bellwood | ||
| 45 | Antis Township | Grazierville | ||
| 48 | Snyder Township | Route 453 north - Tyrone | ||
| 52 | Snyder Township | Route 350 - Bald Eagle | I-99 presently ends northbound and begins southbound along U.S. Route 220 | |
| Worth Township | U.S. Route 322 west - Port Matilda | not open | ||
| Worth Township | U.S. Route 322 west | not open southbound exit and northbound entrance; US 322 joins northbound and leaves southbound |
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| Patton Township | Scotia Road | |||
| 69 | Patton Township | U.S. Route 322 Business east - Atherton Street/Park Forest/Valley Vista Drive | ||
| Patton Township | Toftrees/Woodycrest | |||
| 73 | College Township | U.S. Route 322 east - Penn State University/State College/Lewistown | US 322 joins southbound and leaves northbound | |
| 74 | College Township | Innovation Park/Penn State University | southbound exit and northbound entrance | |
| 76 | Benner Township | Dale Summit/Nittany Mall | State Correctional Institution - Rockview area, do not stop vehicle for next 2 miles | |
| 78 | Benner Township | Route 150 - Bellefonte | split into 78A and 78B | |
| 80 | Spring Township | Harrison Road | northbound exit and southbound entrance | |
| 81 | Spring Township | Route 26 south to Route 64 - Pleasant Gap | Route 26 joins northbound and leaves southbound | |
| Spring Township | Route 550 - Bellefonte/Zion |
[edit] Intersections with other freeways
- U.S. Route 30 in Bedford, Pennsylvania
- Interstate 70 near Wolfsburg, Pennsylvania
- U.S. Route 22 near Sunbrook, Pennsylvania
[edit] See also
- Interstate 238, another nonstandard Interstate number
[edit] References
- ^ American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials - Report of the Special Committee on U.S. Route Numbering to the Standing Committee on Highways, Saturday, November 7, 1998
- ^ http://www.centredaily.com/mld/centredaily/news/special_packages/i99/15635207.htm
[edit] External links
- News on the I-99 acid-rock cleanup from CentreDaily.com
- I-99 / S.R. 6220 Relocation Project (Bald Eagle to State College)
- Interstate 99 Exit Guide
- Future Interstate 99 - North of I-80
| Main Interstate Highways (multiples of 5 in pink) |  |
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|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4 | 5 | 8 | 10 | 12 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 19 | 20 | 22 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 29 | 30 |
| 35 | 37 | 39 | 40 | 43 | 44 | 45 | 49 | 55 | 57 | 59 | 64 | 65 | 66 | 66 (W) | 68 | |
| 69 | 70 | 71 | 72 | 73 | 74 | 75 | 76 (W) | 76 (E) | 77 | 78 | 79 | 80 | 81 | 82 | ||
| 83 | 84 (W) | 84 (E) | 85 | 86 (W) | 86 (E) | 87 | 88 (W) | 88 (E) | 89 | 90 | ||||||
| 91 | 93 | 94 | 95 | 96 | 97 | 99 | (238) | H-1 | H-2 | H-3 | ||||||
| Unsigned | A-1 | A-2 | A-3 | A-4 | PRI-1 | PRI-2 | PRI-3 | |||||||||
| Lists | Main - Auxiliary - Suffixed - Business - Proposed - Unsigned Gaps - Intrastate - Interstate standards - Replaced |
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