Infrastructure Coordinators Help Cities Pursue Funding, Evaluate Projects
Date Posted: May 31, 2022
Posted In: Discussion, Ideas,
From SmartCitiesDive: The concept of “dig once” has become popular within many state and local infrastructure communities, according to Brittney Kohler, legislative director of transportation and infrastructure with the National League of Cities. Coordinating infrastructure projects, when practical, often is more efficient and less disruptive than tackling projects one by one. For instance, if it’s necessary to dig up a road to fix a sewer pipe, taking the opportunity to also complete needed electrical work reduces the likelihood the electric company will soon need to tear up the road to make repairs.
This philosophy is the same thinking that inspires jurisdictions to appoint an infrastructure coordinator who can assess the ways infrastructure projects impact multiple systems and then strategize on their execution to ensure funds are spent as effectively as possible. An infrastructure coordinator can also help state and local governments apply for the approximately $550 billion in new spending that will occur over the coming decade, according to consulting firm McKinsey, through last year’s infrastructure legislation.
More than 85% of spending will go to state and local agencies via grants, McKinsey reported. About 60% of grants will be distributed through formulas based on attributes such as a state’s population size or its miles of road. The remaining 40% will be in the form of competitive grants, loans and federal programs.
“This is a generational amount of funding and on par with New Deal era levels of funding,” said Joseph Kane, a fellow at The Brookings Institution who focuses on infrastructure. As of mid-May, coordinators had been appointed in about 25 states, according to the National Governors Association. Experts say it is unclear how many cities have engaged coordinators.
Benefits of coordination
At any level of government, a coordinator can help in several ways, Kane said. That person can facilitate and prioritize projects across infrastructure types, including roads, bridges, water, energy and broadband, as well as across jurisdictions to encompass neighboring cities, suburbs and rural areas.