Pa. Turnpike will close 86-mile stretch overnight

Westbound lanes affected between Breezewood, New Stanton

The Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission will close an 86-mile stretch of the turnpike overnight, weather permitting, starting at 11 p.m. Saturday, June 24, between the Breezewood Exit 161 and New Stanton Exit 75 interchanges. The westbound lanes will reopen about 6 a.m. Sunday, June 25.

Information will be posted, and announcements will be made, prior to the closure at the North Midway Service Plaza in Bedford County and the Somerset North Service Plaza in Somerset County warning customers of the impending closure.

If customers remain in the service plaza after 11 p.m. Saturday, they will be required to stay there until the road reopens.

The seven-hour closure is needed for crews to safely conduct necessary road work to implement an interim traffic crossover as part of the next phase of a total reconstruction project between mile markers 102-109 in Somerset County. This $117 million project for full-depth reconstruction and widening of the Turnpike from two lanes to three lanes in each direction in the corridor began in 2021 and is expected to be completed in the fall of 2024.

Those exiting at the Breezewood interchange will be to detoured on Route 30 west for 18.7 miles, I-99 north for 30.1 miles, Route 22 west for 64.5 miles, Turnpike Route 66 south for

13.9 miles and reenter the turnpike (I-76) at the New Stanton Interchange Exit 75.

The more than 100-mile detour is necessary to safely accommodate the volume of diverted traffic. Travelers should expect higher than normal traffic volumes on this detour route during the closure and should plan accordingly. Message boards will be placed to inform customers of the closure.

Vehicles will be permitted to enter the turnpike at the Donegal Interchange Exit 91 and travel westbound during this closure. All eastbound traffic is permitted in the corridor during the westbound closure.