Grill of the city
Mike Voinis
Head of the Capital Region Office
HNTB
Regional transit agencies are upgrading existing infrastructure rather than building large-scale projects, prioritizing improvements like communications-based train control and exploring bus rapid transit connections to deliver capacity gains quickly and cost-effectively, Voinis says. System optimization and state-of-repair programs “are performing well because of lower capital requirements and the ability to improve the customer experience quickly,” he adds.
The planned multi-purpose stadium for the Washington Commanders football team “is driving conversations about multimodal connectivity and the role of Union Station as a regional gateway,” says Voinis. Aviation work is seeing “tremendous investment” as major projects are planned for Dulles and Reagan airports, he says. But market conditions “will largely depend” on the reauthorization of federal programs such as the Jobs and Infrastructure Investments Act, which expires in September.
Still, says Voinis, “opportunities for acceleration will arise when project preparation aligns with available funding and innovative funding strategies.”
