The Infrastructure Law: ‘Hitting Timelines Without Cutting Corners’
Source: Route Fifty By Daniel C. Vock,, Senior Reporter
Biden administration officials are pushing for projects to move quickly, while also meeting goals like benefiting disadvantaged neighborhoods and strengthening the nation’s workforce.
State and local officials can build ambitious projects paid for with the federal government’s $1.2 trillion infrastructure law while containing costs, keeping on schedule and delivering other benefits to the public, Biden administration officials assured industry experts Thursday.
Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg and several other administration officials hosted the White House event, sharing ways to keep projects “on time, on task and on budget.”
But federal officials, along with state and city leaders, also stressed that they could accomplish those tasks while training new workers, empowering people in disadvantaged neighborhoods, improving safety and consulting with the public about the design of projects before moving any dirt.
“President Biden has been very clear that he wants infrastructure to be delivered more quickly and efficiently than in the past, and importantly, to serve everyone in this country,” Buttigieg said. “This is about hitting timelines without cutting corners.”
Buttigieg said the redevelopment of Interstate 375 in downtown Detroit into a boulevard moved quickly through environmental reviews, because state and local officials had worked diligently to incorporate community suggestions into the project’s design.
The transportation secretary touted his department’s release of a new guide for states and cities to use in community engagement as they work on projects.