Penn State fans heading to Beaver Stadium on Saturday will want to follow the oldest game-day rule in the book: build in extra time.
The home opener against Marshall at 3:30 p.m. Sept. 5 comes with a familiar companion for anyone driving into Happy Valley - road work. Penn State has a new coach in Matt Campbell, the stadium is getting a major makeover, and PennDOT projects are still lining the routes in.
PennDOT said Wednesday that it is rolling out an expanded 511PA website and mobile app for Penn State home games. Beginning with Saturday’s opener, the travel information will be posted for every home game starting the Thursday before and running through the following Monday.
The page will track traffic on the main routes to Beaver Stadium and provide travel times and alerts for each parking zone: West Zone, which uses Atherton Street to Park Avenue; East Zone, which uses U.S. 322/I-99 to Park Avenue; North Zone, which uses Fox Hollow Road; and South Zone, which uses University Drive and Porter Road from College Avenue/U.S. 26.
That’s the game-day backdrop. The road map itself is even busier.
In Centre County, the high-speed interchange work between Interstate 80 and I-99 continues between mile markers 158 and 161. Exit 161/Bellefonte will close nightly for the rest of the construction season, and eastbound traffic will use a crossover lane at mile marker 159.2 to cross the median onto I-80 westbound.
Drivers heading to I-99 southbound are being directed to exit 163/Jacksonville-Howard, then loop back on I-80 westbound to the Bellefonte exit. Traffic coming from I-99 northbound can reach I-80 eastbound by taking I-80 westbound to exit 158/Milesburg and merging there.
On I-80 westbound, the contractor is keeping two lanes moving through the work zone by leaving the right lane open and shifting traffic onto the shoulder.
Also in Centre County, I-80 eastbound is down to one lane with a 12-foot width restriction between mile markers 154 and 158 as part of preservation work in Boggs and Snow Shoe townships. PennDOT expects that restriction to stay in place until early November.
On I-99, a concrete preservation project has the left passing lane closed southbound for about half a mile at the Port Matilda exit. Another project on I-99 will start in mid-September, when crews begin restoring and rehabilitating approach slabs on several bridges between mile markers 58 and 79.
That work will begin on the northbound side and continue through late October before shifting to the southbound lanes through mid-November. Nighttime single-lane closures are expected.
The work does not stop at the county line. In Centre and Clinton counties, an I-80 rehabilitation project between mile markers 165 and 170 has reduced both directions to a single lane from mile marker 165 to 171. PennDOT says those alternating lane closures should remain until early November.
Clearfield County drivers will run into another I-80 preservation project between mile markers 97 and 120. Westbound traffic has a right lane closure at exit 97/Brockway-DuBois, and PennDOT said no work will take place from Friday through Sunday during the week of home football games.
Farther south, Juniata County has a bridge preservation project on Route 22. The left passing lane on Route 22 westbound is closed for about 2.5 miles, while eastbound drivers face a right lane closure as work continues on the bridge over Route 333.
And in Juniata and Mifflin counties, the Lewistown narrows rehabilitation on Route 22 is still in progress. The left passing lanes on Route 22 eastbound and westbound are closed for roughly four miles between Lewistown and Arch Rock through the narrows. The contractor has to keep all lanes open on the Friday before and Saturday of Penn State home games, and the lanes cannot be closed again until the following Monday.
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