STATE COLLEGE – The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT) has issued an update on an improvement project on Interstate 99 in Centre County.
The work zone encompasses a three-mile section of I-99 in College and Patton townships between the Atherton Street exit and the bridges spanning the Bellefonte Trail near the Waddle Road interchange.
The goal of the project is to improve ride quality and extend the useful life of the roadway.
Work through July 27 includes:
- Monday, July 23 through Tuesday, July 24, the contractor will place the bituminous base and binder courses in the southbound passing lane near the Gray’s Woods exit.
- On Wednesday, July 25, flaggers in the roadway will direct traffic to the appropriate lane as crews work to open the passing lane and shift barriers to close the travel lane.
- Thursday, July 26 through Friday, July 27, the contractor will begin removing the existing roadway pavement in the southbound travel lane.
Motorists approaching the zone are reminded to use both lanes to the merge point. At the merge point, take turns merging into the open lane and proceed through the work zone.
By cooperating and using the late merge system, it will create a zipper-like effect that will allow traffic to move more fluidly through the zone, reduce travel delays and discourage aggressive merging.
Motorists are also reminded that preventing other drivers from using the late merge system by blocking a lane or attempting to force them off the road are aggressive driving behaviors that can result in citations.
Penalties for traffic citations are doubled in work zones and aggressive driving behaviors are among the leading causes of highway crashes and fatalities in Pennsylvania.
Glenn O. Hawbaker Inc. of State College is the contractor for this $3.8 million project. All work is weather and schedule dependent.
Motorists can check conditions on more than 40,000 roadway miles 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 860 traffic cameras.
511PA is also available through a smartphone application for iPhone and Android devices, by calling 5-1-1, or by following regional Twitter alerts accessible on the 511PA Web site.
