Federal and State Policymakers Headline ARTBA’s 35th Annual P3 Conference

What happened: In Year Two of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA), public agencies and the transportation construction industry remain committed to deploying record investment and private capital across all modes. They also continue to explore the merits of various delivery methods and face challenges like risk allocation, rising materials costs and workforce needs.

Those were among the key messages at ARTBA’s Public-Private Partnerships (P3s) in Transportation Conference July 11-13 in the Nation’s Capital. The event featured top federal policymakers, six CEOs from state transportation agencies and three state legislative leaders.

Why it matters: In conversation with ARTBA leaders, public officials provided details on developments within their respective agencies and states. Highlights included:

• Federal Transit Administration (FTA) Executive Director Matt Welbes wants to learn lessons from all P3 projects supported by his agency, adding that FTA is conducting before and after studies of the Dulles Phase One P3 transit line and Maryland’s Purple Line transit project.
• Commissioner Butch Eley of Tennessee’s Department of Transportation (TDOT) delved into the state’s new $3.3 billion Transportation Modernization Act, which authorizes the state’s first highway P3 projects, called Choice Lanes.
• With his state’s economy booming, Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) Commissioner Stephen Brich’s budget has increased from $10.6 billion in 2017 and 3,200 projects in the pipeline to $19.4 billion from 2024 through 2029, and 4,700 projects. He said planned P3 projects in the state will continue adding express lanes.
• Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT) Secretary Omer Osman said his department is assessing the General Assembly’s recent resolution calling for managed lanes on I-55, with a rulemaking forthcoming.
• Equitably allocating the risks for contractors remains key to participating in larger projects, said Fluor Corp. Sales Lead Hope Grumbles, a member of ARTBA’s P3 Division Board of Directors. “What’s in the project?” Grumbles asked. “Is the contract fair and balanced? While we’ll take on some risk, if it’s risk beyond our control, we won’t take it.”

What’s next: The conference also included the ARTBA P3 Division’s annual changing of the guard, with outgoing Division President Deborah Brown of WSP USA presiding. Incoming division officers include Kusha, First Vice President Chuck Wall of Seyfarth Shaw LLP, and Second Vice President Kat Sadeghi of HNTB. In his remarks accepting the presidency, Kusha called on ARTBA and its members to spotlight the industry’s extraordinary capabilities and accomplishments, including recent emergency repairs to the Sanibel Island Causeway in Florida and I-95 in Pennsylvania.

For more information on the ARTBA P3 Division, visit artbap3.org.