I-99 Opening Up

[Blain]

There actually will be no point where 322 and I-99 traffic will merge from two side-by-side lanes into one lane of traffic. They will be first moving the Route 322 traffic across the southbound lane of I-99 and to the new I-99 "merge" lane, where it will have to stop and pull onto the new alignment by making a left turn.

See page four of the newsletter below:

ftp://ftp.dot.state.pa.us/public/Distri ... terNo7.pdf

[Bill Latchford]

There actually will be no point where 322 and I-99 traffic will merge from two side-by-side lanes into one lane of traffic. They will be first moving the Route 322 traffic across the southbound lane of I-99 and to the new I-99 "merge" lane, where it will have to stop and pull onto the new alignment by making a left turn.

See page four of the newsletter below:

ftp://ftp.dot.state.pa.us/public/Distri ... terNo7.pdf

Blain, thank you for the link. It does show a lot of good information, but from driving it every day, and seeing the construction for years, it looked as if I-99 was going to merge temporarily with 322. If 322 eastbound is temporarily merging with I-99, then to me, it still creates a HUGE congested area. We will just have to wait until they open it up to see exactly how it works out. Thanks again for the link. It does actually show how it should work.

[My2Cents]

Still sounds like a lota' gettin' use to all of a sudden. Be careful out there, stay safe !!!

[Bill Latchford]

-Supposedly I-99 is opening today at 2 according to The Altoona Mirror. Should be interesting. Blain you are correct with how they are merging I-99 with 322. It still will bottleneck though when you have all these cars trying to merge into 1 lane after driving 2 lanes. Hope everyone has patience. Here is the link:
http://www.altoonamirror.com/page/conte ... ml?nav=742

[Rick]

I also heard from someone that drove through the site today, that the North bound lane was opening.

[Bill Latchford]

Enjoyed the ride from Port to Tyrone...very quick...I just hope going to State tomorrow will go as smooth.

[Luke]

Thanks Bill let us know what you think on the way over. It is finally almost done!

[Bill Latchford]

We left our house on Oak Street and went down through town to catch I-99 downtown. I guess we could have tried going to Bald Eagle to catch it, just seemed quicker to try it from downtown. From Tyrone to SkyTop where the two lanes merged to one to tap back onto 322 took around 20 minutes. Pretty quick I might say. We never totally had to stop to let 322 traffic merge in. Still seems odd to have 322 N. merge onto I-99 then back onto 322. In either case it was a beautiful ride and a quick one at that. People certainly fly up there that is for sure. So many bridges had me a bit worried about ice, but all in all it seemed well cleared off. That is my report of my family's first trip on I-99 from Tyrone to SkyTop.

[Luke]

Well hopefully things will stay safe....thanks for the update. 20 minutes is great.

[Meaux]

I am saving 10-12 minutes and it is better after 8 AM at the single lane from Skytop through Matternville.

I am very curious if those living along Rt 220 are seeing the benefit. Can you now get out of California Hollow? Can you cross over traffic? Is there a lessening since people are chosing I-99 instead of Rt 220?

[jayestewart]

My brother tells me that there is a considerable reduction of traffic on that portion of 220.