Interstate 99 (I-99): Bedford to Painted Post, the US 220 Gap and Safety Data

How long is I-99?

The FHWA Route Log current to January 2026 lists 98.64 miles for I-99: 85.75 in Pennsylvania and 12.89 in New York. That edition came out before the US 15 extension, so it holds the southern segment plus the short New York piece from the state line to I-86. Wikipedia, updated after the July 2026 signing, puts the whole route at 161.68 miles, with 85.78 on the southern segment and 75.90 on the northern one. Its state split is 149.00 miles in Pennsylvania and 12.68 in New York.

No I-99 pavement is booked to another Interstate, so the Route Log row and our route miles are the same 98.64. The roads that share I-99's lanes are US and state routes, which the Route Log leaves out of its mileage: US 220 from Bedford to Bellefonte, US 322 from the Port Matilda area to the Mount Nittany interchange, PA 26 from Pleasant Gap to Bellefonte, and US 15 on the entire northern segment.

Where I-99 starts and ends

The southern segment starts just north of Bedford, where US 220 continues south. The Pennsylvania Turnpike, I-70 and I-76 at that point, is close by, but drivers reach it over a short stretch of US 220 Business. Going north, I-99 passes Hollidaysburg, Altoona, Tyrone and Port Matilda, crosses Bald Eagle Ridge at Skytop, bypasses State College and ends near Bellefonte. Wikipedia places the end of the designation at an at-grade intersection with Musser Lane, about 1.75 miles past the PA 550 exit and roughly a third of a mile short of I-80; US 220 covers the rest of the way to I-80 at exit 161. Interstate Guide reports a 70 mph limit since May 3, 2016 from milepost 0 to exit 28 and from milepost 34 to exit 68.

The northern segment begins at I-180 and US 220 in Williamsport and stays with US 15 north through Lycoming and Tioga counties, past Blossburg, Mansfield and Lawrenceville. In New York it runs through Lindley and Erwin in Steuben County and ends at I-86 and NY 17, exit 44, in Painted Post, beside Corning.

Interstate junctions along I-99

From south to north, the junction list starts at the Pennsylvania Turnpike near Bedford, where the turnpike carries I-70 and I-76 on the same lanes, then I-80 at Bellefonte and I-86 at the top of the route in Painted Post. The northern segment adds one more Interstate link at its south end, I-180 in Williamsport, a three-digit route not shown in the list. Between those points the exits serve US and state routes, and US 322 shares the freeway from the Port Matilda area to the Mount Nittany interchange.

Fatal crashes on I-99

FARS records 12 fatal crashes on I-99's main line from 2020 to 2024, and each took one life, so 12 people died, about 2 a year. At 98.64 Route Log miles the route falls short of the 100 miles we require for a death rate, so it has no rate and no place among the 56 Interstates we rank. The yearly count went 4 in 2020, none in 2021, 2 in 2022, 3 in 2023 and 3 in 2024, the last from NHTSA's preliminary file.

Every death was in Pennsylvania. Six were in the county that holds State College and Bellefonte, 5 in Blair County, which takes in Altoona, and 1 in Bedford County. The New York piece had none. During those years the Pennsylvania stretch from Williamsport to the New York line was still designated only as US 15, so crashes there are outside these counts.

Counties with the most I-99 crash deaths

Bridges on I-99

The 2025 National Bridge Inventory lists 112 bridges on I-99's main line, 107 in Pennsylvania and 5 in New York. None rate Poor: 54 are Good and 58 are Fair. The median year built is 2001, and much of the road is recent, with sections opening from 2002 to 2013.

That file was coded before the US 15 stretch took the I-99 number, so bridges between Williamsport and the New York line are most likely filed under US 15 and left out of these counts.

Tolls on I-99

Driving I-99 costs nothing in tolls. FHWA's toll inventory dated January 1, 2023 has no facility on the route, and Wikipedia and Interstate Guide mention no toll lanes added since. Drivers who continue onto the Pennsylvania Turnpike near Bedford pay the turnpike's own tolls.

I-99 history: a number Congress wrote into law

The southern segment started as Appalachian Corridor O, assigned along US 220 in 1965, and the stretch from Bedford to Bald Eagle became a freeway in stages from the late 1960s into the 1990s. Representative Bud Shuster put the I-99 number into Section 332 of the National Highway System Designation Act, signed November 28, 1995. Wikipedia calls it the first Interstate number written into law. The first shields went up near 17th Street in Altoona on December 1, 1995, and AASHTO approved the first 51.2 miles, Bedford to Bald Eagle, on November 6, 1998.

The number sits outside the usual grid. North-south Interstates get higher odd numbers as they move east, yet I-99 lies between I-79 and I-81. Wikipedia calls the road the Bud Shuster Highway, and Interstate Guide adds the names Appalachian Thruway and Bud Shuster Byway for the Bedford to State College section.

The eight-mile link from State College to I-80 opened November 25, 2002. Crossing Bald Eagle Ridge took longer. In 2003 crews cutting through Skytop exposed pyrite-bearing rock that turns runoff acidic, and work stopped in 2004. Removing about 1,000,000 cubic yards of it cost $83 million, per Wikipedia (Interstate Guide says $82.7 million). The road opened from Bald Eagle to Port Matilda on December 17, 2007, and from Port Matilda to State College on November 17, 2008.

The northern segment grew out of the US 15 freeway. Its seven miles from Tioga, Pennsylvania, to Lindley, New York, opened October 1, 2008, and the last five miles from Lindley to Presho were finished October 8, 2013. On June 27, 2014, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo announced that the freeway to I-86 would carry I-99. AASHTO approved extending the number 62 miles south to I-180 in Williamsport in October 2024, and FHWA approved it in early July 2026. PennDOT says the 62-mile section of US 15 in Lycoming and Tioga counties became I-99 on July 30, 2026, and it is signed with both numbers.

Joining the two segments is a long-range plan. Wikipedia describes a route along US 220, sharing I-80 for part of the way, and Interstate Guide traces it from I-80 east past Lock Haven to Williamsport. Wikipedia notes that parts of US 220 still need upgrading, mainly near the I-80 interchanges and between Jersey Shore and Linden. At Bellefonte, PennDOT is replacing the I-80 and US 220 interchange with a high-speed one, helped by a $35 million federal grant awarded in 2018. The PA 26 local access interchange opened in late 2022, and Interstate Guide puts the main interchange at $259 million with work scheduled through September 2030.

I-99 traffic and road conditions

Pennsylvania's 511PA and New York's 511NY, linked below, report crashes, closures and winter road conditions on their parts of I-99. Construction at the I-80 interchange near Bellefonte has closed ramps and local roads at times, so a check before heading through the State College area can save a detour.

I-99 questions