Amanda Mays
Executive Director of Transportation, Infrastructure, and Supply Chain Policy, U.S. Chamber of Commerce
Published
October 29, 2026
For families, workers, and businesses, infrastructure shapes everyday life: a bridge that shortens a commute, a highway improvement that reduces traffic, a port expansion that keeps goods moving, or a transit project that connects workers to jobs.
But too often, critical projects face years of delay before construction begins because of a slow, uncertain permitting process. These delays raise costs, postpone needed improvements, lengthen commutes, and make it harder for businesses to reach customers, move goods, and grow.
Congress can address this problem by passing the Bipartisan American Affordability and Jobs Act of 2026.
Why Project Delays Matter to Americans
When infrastructure projects are delayed, communities wait longer for the improvements they need. Every year a needed project remains stuck in review is another year families and businesses bear the burden through wasted time, higher vehicle expenses, and less reliable access to jobs, schools, healthcare, and commercial centers.
Take the Bayonne Bridge project in NY/NJ: permitting to raise the deck of an existing bridge required more than 5,000 pages of studies, 47 permits from 19 agencies, and nearly a decade. The nation cannot afford such costly delays when more than 42,000 bridges remain in poor condition.
Meanwhile, those improvements are getting more expensive. Labor and material expenses can increase during project review, leaving taxpayers to pay more for the same road, bridge, port, or transit improvement.
Predictability Matters for Investment and Job Creation
Uncertainty also makes it harder for businesses to plan. Companies cannot confidently expand operations, hire workers, order equipment, or line up suppliers when critical infrastructure projects remain stalled in review or litigation.
A more predictable process would help construction firms, manufacturers, logistics providers, engineers, tradespeople, and small businesses invest, hire, and grow, while helping road, bridge, transit, and port projects stay on schedule and on budget.
Why Congress Should Act Now
America has made major commitments to rebuild and modernize its infrastructure. But permitting delays can keep those investments from becoming reality.
That is why the U.S. Chamber has led its Permit America to Build campaign and has made modernizing the permitting process a key pillar of its Keep America Moving. Infrastructure only matters if projects get built.
Congress must pass the Bipartisan American Affordability and Jobs Act of 2026. Broad bipartisan support and a historic coalition give lawmakers a rare opportunity to modernize permitting. The sooner projects are built, the sooner families, businesses, and communities benefit.
About the author
Amanda Mays
Amanda Mays is the Executive Director of Transportation, Infrastructure, and Supply Chain Policy at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.
