Editing Interstate 99 (section)

==History==
===Origins===
[[File:I99SkyTop.jpg|thumb|upright|2002 photo of the I-99 excavation, looking south from [[Julian, Pennsylvania|Julian]] at the area where acidic rock was exposed on [[Bald Eagle Mountain]]]]
Corridor O of the [[Appalachian Development Highway System]] was assigned in 1965,{{Citation needed|date=May 2011}} running from [[Cumberland, Maryland]] ([[Corridor E (ADHS)|Corridor E]], now [[Interstate 68|I-68]]) to Bellefonte ([[Interstate 80 in Pennsylvania|I-80]]) along [[U.S. Route 220|US&nbsp;220]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.arc.gov/images/programs/transp/adhs_status_report_2009/ADHS2009StatusReportGeneralReport.pdf |title=Status of the Appalachian Development Highway System as of September 30, 2009 |date=December 2009 |publisher=[[Appalachian Regional Commission]] |access-date=July 18, 2010 |archive-date=October 5, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101005175607/http://www.arc.gov/images/programs/transp/adhs_status_report_2009/ADHS2009StatusReportGeneralReport.pdf |url-status=dead }}</ref> The portion in [[Pennsylvania]], from [[Bedford, Pennsylvania|Bedford]] north to [[Bald Eagle, Pennsylvania|Bald Eagle]], was upgraded to a [[controlled-access highway|freeway]] in stages from the 1960s to the 1990s. The first section, from [[U.S. Route 30 in Pennsylvania|US&nbsp;30]] in Bedford to [[Pennsylvania Route 56|PA&nbsp;56]] near [[Cessna, Pennsylvania|Cessna]], opened in the latter half of the 1960s.<ref>{{cite map |title=Pennsylvania |publisher=[[Sun Oil Company]] |year=1964 |edition=1964–65 |cartography=[[H. M. Gousha Company]]}}</ref><ref name="1970map">{{cite map|url=ftp://ftp.dot.state.pa.us/public/pdf/BPR_pdf_files/Maps/Statewide/Historic_OTMs/1970fr.pdf |title=Official Map of Pennsylvania |publisher=[[Pennsylvania Department of Highways]] |format=PDF |year=1970 |access-date=July 18, 2010 }}{{dead link|date=April 2017 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> Two more sections—from PA&nbsp;56 north to modern exit&nbsp;15 in [[Blair County, Pennsylvania|Blair County]] and from [[Charlottsville, Pennsylvania|Charlottsville]] (exit&nbsp;45) to Bald Eagle—were completed in the 1970s.<ref name="1970map" /><ref name="1980map">{{cite map |url=ftp://ftp.dot.state.pa.us/public/pdf/BPR_pdf_files/Maps/Statewide/Historic_OTMs/1980fr.pdf |title=Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Official Transportation Map |publisher=[[Pennsylvania Department of Transportation]] |format=PDF |year=1980 |access-date=July 18, 2010 }}{{dead link|date=July 2017 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> The portion between exit&nbsp;15 and [[Altoona, Pennsylvania|Altoona]] (exit&nbsp;33) was finished in the 1980s<ref name="1980map" /><ref>{{cite map|url=ftp://ftp.dot.state.pa.us/public/pdf/BPR_pdf_files/Maps/Statewide/Historic_OTMs/1989fr.pdf |title=Pennsylvania Official Transportation Map |publisher=[[Pennsylvania Department of Transportation]] |format=PDF |year=1989 |access-date=July 18, 2010 }}{{dead link|date=April 2017 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> while the segment between modern exits&nbsp;33 and 45 was opened by 1997.<ref>{{cite map |publisher=[[Rand McNally and Company]] |title=Easy-to-Read Travel Atlas: United States–Canada–Mexico |year=1997 |page=44 |isbn=0-528-81575-X}}</ref>

[[File:2021-10-27 13 22 04 View north along Interstate 99 and U.S. Route 220 just north of Exit 41 in Antis Township, Blair County, Pennsylvania.jpg|thumb|left|I-99 and US&nbsp;220 northbound past PA&nbsp;865 near Bellwood]]
In 1991, the [[Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act]] (ISTEA) was signed into law.<ref name="istea-a">{{Cite web |title=Bill Summary & Status H.R.2950 |url=http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d102:HR02950: |access-date=June 23, 2014 |archive-date=December 15, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121215195446/http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d102:HR02950: |url-status=dead }}</ref> It included a number of High Priority Corridors, one of which—Corridor&nbsp;9—ran along US&nbsp;220 from Bedford to [[Williamsport, Pennsylvania|Williamsport]], and then north on [[U.S. Route 15|US&nbsp;15]] to [[Corning (city), New York|Corning, New York]].<ref name="istea-text">{{Cite web |title=Bill Text H.R.2950 |url=http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/F?c102:7:./temp/~c102L9Hp2g:e206581: |access-date=June 23, 2014 }}{{Dead link|date=August 2021 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> The [[National Highway System 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."<ref name="nhsda-text">{{Cite web |title=National Highway System Designation Act of 1995 |url=http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/PLAW-104publ59/html/PLAW-104publ59.htm |access-date=June 23, 2014 }}</ref> This was the first interstate highway number to be written into law rather than to be assigned by [[American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials|AASHTO]]. The number was specified by Representative [[Bud Shuster]], who said that the standard spur numbering was not "catchy"; instead, I-99 was named after a street car, No. 99, that took people from Shuster's hometown of [[Glassport, Pennsylvania|Glassport]] to [[McKeesport, Pennsylvania|McKeesport]]. I-99 breaks the AASHTO numbering pattern associated with interstate highways, since it lies east of [[Interstate 79|I-79]] but west of [[Interstate 81|I-81]] (the number suggests it would be located very close to the [[Atlantic Ocean]], east of [[Interstate 95|I-95]]).<ref name="debate">{{cite news |title=Road Stirs Up Debate, Even on Its Name |newspaper=[[The New York Times]] |date=December 27, 2008 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/28/us/28highway.html |first=Sean D. |last=Hamill}}</ref>

===Designation and Bald Eagle Mountain===
On November 6, 1998, AASHTO formally approved the I-99 designation, which initially extended {{convert|51.2|mi|km}} from the [[Pennsylvania Turnpike]] in Bedford to [[Pennsylvania Route 350|PA&nbsp;350]] in Bald Eagle.<ref name="aashto">{{cite web |url=http://cms.transportation.org/sites/route/docs/1998-USRN_Cmte.pdf |publisher=[[American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials]] |title=Report of the Special Committee on U.S. Route Numbering to the Standing Committee on Highways |date=November 7, 1998 |access-date=July 18, 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061012224238/http://cms.transportation.org/sites/route/docs/1998-USRN_Cmte.pdf |archive-date=October 12, 2006 |df=mdy-all }}</ref> In 2002, plans were set in motion to extend I-99 northeast from Bald Eagle to [[State College, Pennsylvania|State College]] via [[Port Matilda, Pennsylvania|Port Matilda]].<ref name="long road">{{cite news |url=http://www.altoonamirror.com/page/content.detail/id/513588.html |title=Long road for I-99 comes to end |last=Bock |first=Greg |date=November 25, 2008 |newspaper=[[Altoona Mirror]] |access-date=July 18, 2010}}</ref> The extension was fraught with issues, however. The proposed alignment for the highway north to Port Matilda proved to be controversial: while environmentalists called for I-99 to be constructed in the valley below [[Bald Eagle Mountain]], the [[Pennsylvania Department of Transportation]] (PennDOT) and valley residents favored a routing that took the freeway above the valley and along the side of the ridge.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.post-gazette.com/healthscience/20021207highway2.asp |title=I-99 segment gets environmental OK |last=Gibb |first=Tom |date=December 7, 2002 |newspaper=[[Pittsburgh Post-Gazette]] |access-date=July 19, 2010}}</ref> Farther north, the widening of [[Skytop, Centre County, Pennsylvania|Skytop]], the mountain cut that [[U.S. Route 322 in Pennsylvania|US&nbsp;322]] uses to traverse Bald Eagle Mountain, resulted in the exposure of acidic [[pyrite]] rock in 2003.<ref name="long road" />

[[File:Route 322 WB 2.jpg|thumb|left|2006 photo of the westbound approach to the Mount Nittany Interchange on westbound US 322. The blank spots on the overhead signs were reserved for I-99 shields, which have since been put up.]]
Work on the segment ceased one year later<ref name="long road" /> as PennDOT attempted to stop the flow of acidic runoff from the site. The state remedied the situation by removing {{convert|1000000|yd3|m3}} of pyrite and replacing it with a mix of [[limestone]] and fill, a process that took two years and cost $83&nbsp;million (equivalent to ${{Inflation|US|83|2005|r=0}}&nbsp;million in {{Inflation/year|US}}).<ref name="debate" /> With the environmental issues settled, construction resumed on the portion of the freeway south of Skytop Mountain. The section from Bald Eagle to Port Matilda was opened to traffic on December 17, 2007,<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.altoonamirror.com/page/content.detail/id/502818.html |title=Long-awaited I-99 stretch opens |last=Bock |first=Greg |date=December 18, 2007 |newspaper=Altoona Mirror |access-date=July 19, 2010}}</ref> while the remaining section between Port Matilda and the west end of the [[Mount Nittany Expressway]] near State College was completely opened on November 17, 2008.<ref name="long road" /> In all, the 18-mile Bald Eagle–State College section of I-99 cost $631&nbsp;million (equivalent to ${{Inflation|US|631|2008|r=0}}&nbsp;million in {{Inflation/year|US}}) to construct.<ref name="debate" />

I-99 was extended northeastward to meet [[Interstate 80 in Pennsylvania|I-80]] northeast of [[Bellefonte, Pennsylvania|Bellefonte]] following the completion of the Bald Eagle–State College segment. The connection was made by way of the preexisting Mount Nittany Expressway and another, unnamed limited-access highway connecting the State College bypass to the Bellefonte area.<ref name="debate" /> The portion of the latter highway north of the [[Pennsylvania Route 26|PA&nbsp;26]] interchange was originally built in the 1970s as a [[two-lane expressway|two-lane freeway]] connecting [[Pleasant Gap, Pennsylvania|Pleasant Gap]] to I-80. At the time, it was designated solely as PA&nbsp;26.<ref name="1970map" /><ref name="1980map" /> It was widened to four lanes in 1997.{{Citation needed|date=July 2010}} The piece connecting the PA&nbsp;26 freeway to the Mount Nittany Expressway was completed in 2002.{{Citation needed|date=July 2010}} [[U.S. Route 220 in Pennsylvania|US&nbsp;220]] was rerouted via US&nbsp;322 and the new road, and the old alignment of US&nbsp;220 north of US&nbsp;322 was designated [[U.S. Route 220 Alternate (State College, Pennsylvania)|US&nbsp;220 Alternate]] (US&nbsp;220 Alt.) on May 30, 2003.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://cms.transportation.org/sites/route/docs/2003-USRN_Cmte.pdf |publisher=American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials |title=Report of the Special Committee on U.S. Route Numbering to the Standing Committee on Highways |date=May 31, 2003 |access-date=July 18, 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070204073739/http://cms.transportation.org/sites/route/docs/2003-USRN_Cmte.pdf |archive-date=February 4, 2007 |df=mdy-all }}</ref> This extension, however, did not include an interchange with I-80, resulting in I-99 terminating at an at-grade intersection with Musser Lane just before reaching I-80.

Further north, one short segment of two-lane highway remained between Lawrenceville, Pennsylvania, and Presho, New York, almost entirely within New York. In the early 2010s, {{Convert|5|mi|km|spell=in}} of new freeway was constructed to connect the existing freeway segments. This provided through traffic with a continuous freeway from Williamsport, Pennsylvania, to Corning, New York, and removed traffic from the overburdened two-lane section of US&nbsp;15, which was retired to county route status as [[County Route 115 (Steuben County, New York)|CR&nbsp;115]]. On June 27, 2014, New York Governor [[Andrew Cuomo]] announced that the interstate-grade US 15 freeway from the Pennsylvania border to I-86 in Corning was officially signed as I-99.<ref name=I99NY/>