Some state DOTs trim bid lettings as the Dec. 11 federal highway deadline nears

AGC said its chapters reported the pullback but would not name the states. So far the effect shows up at the bidding stage, not on jobs already under way. Through August, states had committed $300.5 billion of federal formula money for roads and bridges to about 129,600 new projects under the 2021 law, according to ARTBA, and that money keeps current work going.

The gap is in what comes next. The short-term extension Congress passed keeps the main Highway Trust Fund programs going until Dec. 11 but left out the law's advance appropriations, which lapsed Oct. 1, Transport Topics reported. An Oct. 27 report from Senate Commerce Committee Democrats counts $36.8 billion of fiscal 2027 transportation money that was not renewed: $10.8 billion in formula money and $26 billion in other programs. Without new appropriations, the Mega program falls from $1 billion to nothing and Railroad Crossing Elimination grants from $600 million to nothing, the report says. The Pew Charitable Trusts puts the immediate hit to state road and bridge funding at 13% if only the regular trust fund programs continue.

AGC stresses that the $36.8 billion is not being clawed back from existing projects. The exposure is the next round of bridge and Mega work. JP Villamizar of Hill International told ENR that owners short of money may re-scope or value-engineer later phases, and that shaky schedules force contractors to choose between holding scarce staff on uncertain programs or moving them to funded work. Delays and scope changes also lead contractors to price more risk into their bids, he said.

Democrats won control of Congress on Nov. 4 and take over in January. ARTBA expects the new Democratic leaders of the House Transportation and Infrastructure panel to start from the BUILD America 250 Act, a five-year bill that the committee approved 62-2 in May and that has not reached the floor. The Senate has not marked up its own bill. Lawmakers return Nov. 9 with five legislative weeks to either pass another short-term extension or close the gap.