In the mid-1990s, two highway projects oneither side of the country helped to create a paradigm shift in the way U.S. infrastructure improvements would be financed. Dulles Greenway in northern Virginia and state Route 91 Express Lanes in Los Angeles were designed and built almost entirely with private funds, giving rise to what would become public-private partnerships, or P3s.

Enthusiasm and skepticism greeted both projects. While some saw the nascent P3s as the ideal solution for a growing shortfall in public transportation funds, others questioned whether projects would meet states' exacting standards for quality and safety, how the approach would affect construction and municipal workforces and whether taxpayers would have to pay for failed business deals, no matter how good the ideas seemed.