10/02/2026
ACPA’s President & CEO Laura O’Neill Kaumo recently shared her thoughts on why the U.S. Congress needs to be more forward thinking about Transportation Infrastructure Funding, and how concrete pavement should be a larger part of the conversation.
Read on to understand why we must Build for the Future!
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Building for Generations: Why Surface Transportation Reauthorization Must Look Beyond the Short Term
As a nation, we’ve been here before: a political impasse stalls surface transportation reauthorization, and we fall back on continuing resolutions that maintain outdated funding levels.
A continuing resolution is better than nothing, but we must do better for consumers, taxpayers, and future generations. Congress needs to reauthorize surface transportation programs and make every infrastructure dollar go further. It should incentivize owners and agencies to build and manage pavements to a long-life performance standard. Decisions should account for a corridor’s full life construction, maintenance, rehabilitation, and the effects of closures on the people and businesses that depend on it. A focus on near-term cost alone can lead to more spending and disruption over time.
Agencies also need a competitive market in which concrete and asphalt are fairly evaluated, giving durable, cost-effective solutions a genuine opportunity to be selected. Sound asset management means preserving what works, using concrete overlays where appropriate, and rebuilding where necessary to withstand heavy freight traffic and future disruptions.
Congress, agencies, and state DOTs can improve performance within a fixed pavement budget by planning across the whole network and over decades. That means deciding where and when to invest, requiring long-life performance where it matters most, accounting for uncertain future conditions and prices, and considering treatments such as overlays alongside reconstruction.
At minimum, Congress should challenge owners and agencies to achieve generational infrastructure and employ a few approaches to make investments go further by planning for the long term, keeping treatment and material choices open, and consider healthy competition among materials as part of asset management. Competition between paving materials and among bidders can affect unit prices.
Federal investment should leave the country with more than a list of completed projects. It should build a highway system that performs for generations, withstands disruption, and makes the best use of every public dollar. At ACPA’s Annual Meeting, we will discuss these questions with FHWA and state DOT representatives: What is the condition of our highway system? What investment does it need? And how can agencies make that investment go further? We will also examine MIT’s research on competition in pavement markets, supported by the ACPA Foundation, and discuss how fair competition, long-term planning, and cost-effective treatments such as overlays can help deliver a stronger, more resilient network. We encourage you to register today and join us in Florida, December 1-3, 2026, for these important conversations.
- Laura O'Neill Kaumo, President & CEO, American Concrete Pavement Association
Click here to register for ACPA's Annual Meeting - https://2026meeting.acpa.org/.
This piece was originally published as the "In the Mix" column in ACPA's e-newsletter. The e-newsletter is distributed to ACPA members and industry partners. To be added to the list, contact ACPA at [email protected].
