INTERSTATE 99

'Interstate 99' (abbreviated 'I-99') is a partially completed main route of the Interstate Highway System in central Pennsylvania. The current southern terminus is at exit 146 of the Pennsylvania Turnpike (Interstate 70 and Interstate 76) north of Bedford, where the road continues south as U.S. Route 220. The northern terminus is currently at Pennsylvania Route 350 in Bald Eagle, where I-99 becomes an at-grade highway and continues north as US 220. Currently, all of I-99 runs concurrent to US 220.
Unlike most Interstate numbers, which are assigned by AASHTO to fit into a grid, I-99's number was written into Section 332 of the National Highway Designation Act of 1995 by Bud Shuster, then-chair of the U.S. House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, the bill's sponsor, and the representative of the district through which the highway runs. The number "99" violates the AASHTO numbering convention associated with Interstate highways. Under this system, the lowest numbers start on the West Coast progressing in order to the highest numbers on the East Coast. Several north-south routes, including Interstates 81, 83, 87, 89, 91, 93, 95, and 97 all lie east of Interstate 99.^[1] This inconsistency irks many road enthusiasts, and some have expressed their disapproval of this in various forums, proposing alternative designations including I-81,^[2]
I-83,^[3]
I-170,^[4]
I-576,^[5]
I-776, I-976,^[6]
or I-980.^[7]
The Federal Highway Administration addresses this issue in the "Interstate FAQ" on their web site, explaining that the designation can only be changed by an act of congress.^[8]
When construction on I-99 is completed, the southern terminus of the route will be at an interchange with Interstate 68 in Cumberland, Maryland. The northern terminus will be at an interchange with Interstate 86 in Corning, New York.

Contents

Route description

Bedford to Altoona

Bedford to Altoona

Altoona to Tyrone

History

Future

Maryland

Pennsylvania

New York

Exit list

References

External links

Route description

Major cities 'Bolded cities' are officially-designated control cities for signs
★ 'Bedford, Pennsylvania' ★ 'Altoona, Pennsylvania' ★ Tyrone, Pennsylvania

Bedford to Altoona

While the current road starts from Bedford until Bald Eagle, future plans have this road starting from the Pennsylvania-Maryland border mostly along U.S. Route 220 and then along U.S. Route 15 going towards New York. Current plans have this road ending at Interstate 80 near Bellefonte, Pennsylvania.
The names given to this road include the 'Bud Shuster Highway' and 'Appalachian Thruway'; the latter name continues north with US 220 and US 15.
Within Pennsylvania, the road presently runs 51.2 miles (82.4 km)^[9], 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.

Bedford to Altoona

Interstate 99 currently begins as a continuation of the two lane portion of U.S. Route 220 from Maryland near the Pennsylvania Turnpike (I-76). The interchange with the turnpike requires drivers to get onto Old U.S. Route 220 near Bedford, Pennsylvania in order to connect to the Pennsylvania Turnpike.
This route continues north towards Altoona, Pennsylvania.

Altoona to Tyrone

From Altoona, Pennsylvania, the highway has a large intersection with U.S. Route 22 in Hollidaysburg, Pennsylvania. This interchange allows one to head west towards Ebensburg, Pennsylvania and Johnstown, Pennsylvania. Around here, Pennsylvania Route 764 begins only to intersect later at Bellwood, Pennsylvania.
Heading towards Tyrone, Pennsylvania, Interstate 99 goes along one of the older sections of the highways back when U.S. Route 220 was first converted to a limited access highway. Also near here is the DelGrosso Amusement Park .

History

'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 Interstate Highway 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^[10].
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.

Future

Bill S.719 of 2005, sponsored by Paul Sarbanes of Maryland, would have extended Corridor O south to Corridor H in West Virginia.^[11]
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 Interstate Highway standards, marking the route as the "Future I-99 Corridor".

Maryland

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, Pennsylvania.

Pennsylvania

Interstate 99 is planned to start from the Maryland border to be a continuation to the existing routing which starts in Bedford, Pennsylvania.
In Tyrone, Pennsylvania itself, Interstate 99 is a short elevated expressway at Pennsylvania Route 453, built similar to Interstate 95 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. This section is notorious for speed traps as many cars heading downhill from Bald Eagle, Pennsylvania must use brakes in order to stay within the speed limit.
From Bald Eagle, Pennsylvania to State College, Pennsylvania, the road is not yet open due to an acid rock issue.
In State College, Pennsylvania, Interstate 99 is already built and open, but not signed. The routing takes the western half of the Nittany Expressway (U.S. Route 322) and goes northward from Penn State's Research Park. It should be noted that U.S. Route 220 was rerouted here as well as the old routing used to go directly to Milesburg, Pennsylvania. From Benner Pike in State College, Pennsylvania, Interstate 99 continues along an old "super 2" highway routing of Pennsylvania Route 26 going towards Bellefonte, Pennsylvania. The current plans are to have Interstate 99 end at Interstate 80.
From Bellefonte, Pennsylvania to Williamsport, Pennsylvania, plans are to have this road continue along U.S. Route 220.
From Williamsport, Pennsylvania to Corning, New York, plans are to have this road continue along U.S. Route 15 and ending at Interstate 86.

New York

In the state of New York, this road is slated to continue north from Pennsylvania north along U.S. Route 15 to Interstate 86 (formerly NY 17) near Corning, New York.

Exit list

County	Location	Mile[12]	#	Destinations	Notes
Bedford	Bedford Twp	0.00	1	I-70 - I-76 (Turnpike) — Pittsburgh, Harrisburg	I-99 begins northbound and ends southbound along US 220.
		2.93	3	US 220 BUS south - PA 56 — Johnstown, Cessna
	East St. Clair Twp	6.65	7	PA 869 — St. Clairsville, Osterburg
	King Twp	10.13	10	Blue Knob State Park
Blair	Greenfield Twp	14.92	15	US 220 BUS north — Claysburg, King
	Freedom Twp	22.88	23	PA 36 - PA 164 to US 22 east — Roaring Spring, Portage, Hollidaysburg
	Allegheny Twp	28.12	28	to US 22 — Ebensburg, Hollidaysburg	To PA 764.
	Logan Twp	30.60	31	US 220 BUS (Plank Road)
		31.88	32	to PA 36 (Frankstown Road)
		33.24	33	17th Street
	Antis Twp	38.62	39	PA 764 south — Pinecroft
		41.30	41	PA 865 north — Bellwood
		45.41	45	Grazierville
	Tyrone	47.89	48	PA 453 north — Tyrone
	Snyder Twp	51.84	52	PA 350 — Bald Eagle	I-99 presently ends northbound and begins southbound along U.S. Route 220.

References

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9. 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
10. http://www.centredaily.com/mld/centredaily/news/special_packages/i99/15635207.htm
11. Bill S.719 of 2005
12. DeLorme Street Atlas USA 2007. Toggle Measure Tool. Accessed on July 12 2007.

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)

★ Pennsylvania Highways: Interstate 99