DOT Secretary Wants to Streamline State Projects
Inflation. It hits every sector eventually, but currently seems to have hit construction the most. The American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) estimates that construction costs for road projects have increased by approximately 70% in the last five years. To that end, Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy wants to get to work on making infrastructure projects quicker to build so that they do not fall victim to inflation.
Details
“The cost of things has gotten to be way too much. We are rethinking how we’re taking away the requirements that are not mandated but put on by the department and letting you all build faster,” Duffy said Feb. 24. “We need permitting reform. We’re spending a lot of money that’s not putting shovels in dirt but it’s actually in consultants.”
In a country where new construction and non-emergency repair projects can take years to get underway, the price of doing so can increase dramatically. By reducing the amount of time it takes for projects to get started, and by extension eventually finished, Duffy hopes that his Department of Transportation can keep costs from spiraling out of control.
Duffy said that he wanted to extend an olive branch to the fifty various state transportation departments; to work with them to get projects done quicker.
“What we do is we affect people’s lives in a profound way. If we do our jobs well, they get home 15 minutes or half an hour early because we’ve navigated their road trips or if they’re not delayed or canceled in aviation. Their lives are better because they can spend more time with their families.”
Conclusion
It is an astute observation that prices slowly but surely get higher year-over-year (unless there is a period of deflation, which creates its own set of economic woes we will not get into here). By cutting bureaucratic red tape and getting some shovels into the ground, the federal government hopes it can empower states to get projects done more quickly. We will have to wait and see if this plan comes to fruition.
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