“We bridge silos by helping different departments and funding sources work together."

Sandy Kutzing, lead in drinking water task force leader, and Jenny Humphreys, transportation planning and design expert, explore what it really takes to coordinate across agencies, funding streams and infrastructure types to achieve dig-once goals for communities.

Want to learn more? Watch this short video with Sandy and Jenny.

Sandy: How do we make this agency coordination happen? In my experience, the water department is separate from Public Works, which is separate from transportation, which is different from bike and pedestrian planning. And the funding is separate, too.

Jenny: That’s why facilitation is key for integrated infrastructure planning. Through our program management and infrastructure planning services, we bridge those silos by helping different departments and funding sources work together. Especially with transportation, projects often already have multiple funding streams. The tools exist to combine those pots of money and consolidate projects under one management structure.

Sandy: And you’d hope funding agencies would support that kind of smart coordination. With lead funding, for instance, a lot of it is coming through state-administered federal dollars from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. Some states put limitations on what you can use funding for though.

Jenny: You can separate out the bid items: lead service line work funded by one source, and transportation improvements funded by another. It just takes coordination, not only locally but also at the state level. Making sure the different program requirements, like SRF, BABA, and DBE are built into the same documents.

Sandy: It does take effort and some upfront coordination, but the payoff is huge. Less disruption, more value for every dollar, and stronger infrastructure in the long run.

Sandy: When we come into a new project, we see many stakeholders doing their own thing with their own funding streams, goals, and constraints. We’ve been talking about ways we can help bridge those gaps and manage those programs well. And keep in mind, we’re usually working for one of those silos! So what are the skills we typically look for when we’re trying to coordinate at that higher level?

Jenny: I regularly find a lot of value in our program management services group. They’re not just mega project managers, they bring this whole range of skills. From asset management—they know the data, forecast conditions—to funding professionals who understand the nuances of federal, state, local, and even private dollars. They’re out there actively pursuing grants and helping clients manage the funding side.

And then of course, the delivery specialists. The ones who know construction inside out, like cost estimating, assembling effective bid packages. They know just everything to support the full lifecycle of integrated infrastructure plans.

Sandy: Yeah, and also, they’ve got connections. They’re talking to elected officials and community leaders regularly.

Jenny: Elected officials, major stakeholders, the public... all of the above.