Interstate 99

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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)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, 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.

Major cities

• Bedford, Pennsylvania
• Altoona, Pennsylvania
• State College, Pennsylvania (via US 220)

History

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 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 was designated U.S. Route 220 Alternate. The road 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 by complaints from the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection about acidic runoff from unearthed pyritic rock leaking into the groundwater and nearby creeks.

[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".

Exit list

Interstate 70/Pennsylvania Turnpike/Interstate 76 - Pittsburgh/Harrisburg

See also

• Interstate 238, another nonstandard Interstate number

References