The clock has already started to tick on efforts to reauthorize the federal-highway legislation. The country’s primary surface transportation policy law was last reauthorized in 2021 and it expires at the end of September. Transportation policymakers on Capitol Hill and in the Administration have pledged to update the law prior to its expiration.
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy testified April 2 before the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, to present the Trump administration’s approach to reauthorization of the Surface Transportation legislation set to expire on September 30, 2026. Duffy did not offer much detail but emphasized the need for innovation and efforts to expedite project delivery.
What happened: Public highway, pavement, and street construction—the largest transportation market sector—is expected to grow by double digits for the second consecutive year, increasing 16 percent to $126 billion in 2024 from $108.6 billion in 2023, according to ARTBA Chief Economist Alison Premo Black’s annual market outlook.
More than 36,000 transportation improvement projects – including at least one in every congressional district – have moved forward in the past 16 months as implementation of the federal Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) continues, American Road & Transportation Builders Association (ARTBA) Chair Paula Hammond told a congressional panel March 28.
The American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) provided comments to the Environmental Protection Agency in a letter regarding proposed changes to certain provisions of the Clean Water Act.