Paving the Way Forward—It’s Time To Build the Roads and B...

By Nathan Creech

President of CRH’s Americas Division

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America’s roads and bridges are the backbone of our nation—and they are in urgent need of repair and modernization. Decades of population growth, economic expansion, extreme weather events and rising demand have pushed our aging infrastructure to its limits. As we look ahead to 2026, the White House has a rare opportunity to do what no administration has done since President Dwight D. Eisenhower—harness the great American spirit by transforming roads and bridges across the United States, improving transportation for every American and fueling economic growth and prosperity for generations to come.

Nearly half of America’s major roads are in poor or mediocre condition, hurting local economies and costing the average household the equivalent of an extra month’s rent every year. Add in the fact that our roadways face a nearly trillion-dollar funding gap over the next 10 years, and the scale of the challenge becomes clear. There are big hurdles to overcome.

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The good news is that we’ve tackled huge infrastructure challenges before. President Abraham Lincoln’s railroads helped stitch together a fractured republic. President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s New Deal brought electricity to rural America. President Eisenhower’s highways connected a nation. We have always harnessed the power of infrastructure to reshape our country’s trajectory, drive progress and improve the lives of every American. The time has come to build on that legacy, invest in our core infrastructure and pave the way to America’s next golden age.

Next year, the Trump administration has a tremendous opportunity to turn infrastructure spending into lasting prosperity, because our nation faces a significant highway funding cliff as dedicated federal transportation resources expire in September 2026.

This deadline not only provides the White House with a rare chance to transform roads and bridges across the United States, but to improve the lives of every American. There are few places more efficient to invest hard-earned taxpayer dollars than roads and bridges. Smart infrastructure investment creates jobs for American workers, helps expand the economy and lays the foundation for a stronger nation.

A modern, well-maintained road and bridge network is also essential to supporting the Trump administration’s efforts to onshore production, rebuild America’s global leadership in domestic manufacturing and industrial capabilities and safeguard our nation’s independence and national security.

A key determinant of success will be balancing fiscal responsibility with maximum societal impact. A minimum five-year, $600 billion fully funded surface reauthorization bill focused on roads, bridges, rail and transit does both.

While previous efforts like the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act had stronger topline numbers, the impact has been muted and delayed due to complexity, red tape and the effects of inflation. The next push must be more targeted, addressing the country’s core infrastructure needs with a focus on maintaining and improving our existing roads and bridges as much as building new capacity.

We also need to do more to empower individual states, providing them with the flexibility they need to determine where money is effectively spent. A helpful first step would be to allocate more federal funds through state funding formulas and limiting the use of discretionary grants. State transportation leaders are the best judges of how to make each dollar go as far as possible.

If we can combine these funding improvements with effective permit reform—streamlining projects and cutting unnecessary red tape—the impact will not only be felt more quickly, but it will be transformational for our nation.

Roads and bridges have always been at the heart of America’s story. Their continued modernization and expansion has formed the backbone of our success for centuries.

From Paul Revere’s midnight ride and Lewis and Clark’s westward journey, to the creation of Route 66 and the interstate highway system—our mobility and freedom, and our capacity to travel are woven into the very fabric of what it means to be an American.

As we approach the 250th anniversary of the United States, there’s no better way to continue this proud legacy than to invest in core infrastructure for generations to come.

Nathan Creech is president of CRH’s Americas division.

The views expressed in this article are the writer's own.

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