Construction on US 220 north of I-80 - UPDATE 10/14

[jemacedo9]

I don't think there is anything in the 12-year plan on that section, or the section between PA 477 and I-80 even with the new 2-lane interchange, or upgrading the I-80/PA 26 interchange.  BUT...I agree that the CSVT should be the higher priority.

[briantroutman]

I am kinda surprised that if this portion is supposed to be part of future I-99 why the residents want traffic signals instead.

The residents want what they perceive to be safest.

I know a family that lives on one of the dead-end side roads branching out from US 220 in Linden (just west of the existing freeway's end), and any mention of "I-99"  in their household evokes eye rolls and frustrated sighs about this impending monstrosity that has discouraged them from doing any home redecoration, renovation, or reinvestment of any kind for well over a decade. If their attitudes are at all representative of others who live in the affected area, I'd expect there'd be no tears shed if I-99 plans were shelved permanently.

They do, however, complain regularly about having to make breakneck maneuvers to avoid traffic moving at freeway speeds–often considerably in excess of the posted 55–to make their circuitous connections back to Williamsport, which is the center of commercial and cultural activity for anyone living in this area. So residents along US 220 would likely be in favor of traffic signals, signalized jug handles, reduced speed limits, and other "traffic calming"  measures that would make their day-to-day connections to US 220 more tolerable.

I haven't seen any detailed plans of a future I-99 freeway, but it's possible that the configuration of frontage roads would make access more inconvenient than it currently is. But completion of the freeway's missing link now seems as distant as the CSVT did 20 years ago, and the general sense in Williamsport is that the freeway project is deader than dead.

And as it stands, no one beyond roadgeeks and other Interstate completists seems interested in closing this or the other I-99 gaps. Without a power broker like Bud Shuster hell-bent on seeing 99 shields go up on the roadside, I doubt there's much motivation within PennDOT or any local or regional governments and chambers of commerce, etc. to complete the missing links either. Like the freeway gap in US 15 south of Selinsgrove, US 220 in Linden is a four-lane divided highway posted at 55 MPH which is almost perpetually free flowing. Even the existing traffic signal at PA 287 affects only southbound traffic–northbound is non-stop. Locals (other than the residents directly along the route) and long-distance travelers are largely satisfied with 220 as it is.

Maybe if the existing four-lane is bogged down with enough traffic signals, jug handles, and reduced speed zones to make through travel a miserable experience, you'll see a renewed push to complete the freeway.

[qguy]

I agree. It's on the back-est of back burners.

[ixnay]

I know a family that lives on one of the dead-end side roads branching out from US 220 in Linden

Linden... a village with the same name as a certain Northeast Jersey city, and, in keeping with the Garden State theme, 7.7 miles from Jersey Shore, PA per Google Maps directions.

ixnay

[briantroutman]

^ They're just huge Barney Miller fans there.