With recession-stricken states stripping road and bridge projects from their improvement agendas and no federal surface transportation reauthorization bill on the horizon, transportation design firms are trying to make the most of a sluggish market.
Little of the $40 billion allocated to transportation under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) has found its way to design firms, as states stayed true to the “shovel-ready” theme and applied the bulk of the funds to routine maintenance, paving and design-build projects in order to meet the program’s accelerated obligation schedule.