The contractor for PennDOT’s High-Speed Interchange project between interstates 80 and 99 will resume hauling fill material from a quarry located along Route 1005 (Forest Avenue) from 6 p.m. to 6 a.m. nightly starting Wednesday, March 18. This work is part of a project to enhance traffic safety by providing a direct connection between the two interstates, making it unnecessary to travel along Route 26 to access them, which will relieve traffic congestion and realign service for local traffic.

While the contractor is hauling material, drivers should expect to encounter off-road truck traffic crossing the highway at three points within the project area. Those points are along Forest Avenue, Route 26 (Jacksonville Road) and I-80 at the eastbound ramps. Flaggers in the roadway will assist with traffic control at each of these crossings. Portable light plants will also be stationed at each crossing to improve visibility.

Hauling of fill material will continue for the remainder of the 2026 construction season.

Work on this contract includes building the interchange, 10 bridges, four retaining walls, five box culverts, seven sign structures and three changeable message boards.

The project also includes constructing new and rebuilding existing roadways and ramps, drainage improvements, installing Intelligent Transportation System devices, guide rail and highway lighting, pavement marking, stream improvements and miscellaneous construction. Work will continue through the next five construction seasons, ending in 2030.

Trumbull Corp. of Pittsburgh is the contractor on this $259 million project. About $170 million of the funding comes from the federal Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL).

The high-speed interchange is one phase of a three-phase project. The first involved the construction of the local access interchange at mile marker 163, which provided direct access between Route 26 and I-80 for local traffic. Construction on that phase took place over three construction seasons between 2020-22. The contract value was $52 million. That phase benefited from a $35 million federal Infrastructure for Rebuilding America grant.

The other ongoing phase will reconstruct and widen Route 26 to maintain and support the state roadway network. It will feature 11-foot travel lanes and 4-foot shoulders. Excavation work for that project started in November 2024 and construction will be completed this summer.

Completing all three phases will support the regional freight economy and improve the reliability of roadway travel throughout the region, PennDOT said in a news release.