Guide

This guide examines why federal Right of Way (ROW) acquisition remains one of the most common points of failure in infrastructure project delivery, and what agencies can do to keep projects on schedule.

With Bipartisan Infrastructure Law funding facing a September 2026 sunset and construction costs continuing to rise, delays in ROW acquisition carry more risk than ever. Yet the legally mandated 12- to 18-month URA timeline cannot be shortened, only managed.

This guide breaks down the seven most common reasons federal ROW projects stall, from late team engagement to coordination failures with railroads and utilities, and shows how modern, data-driven processes can help agencies address each one before it becomes a schedule-critical delay.

This guide covers the following key topics:

• Why the ROW team getting called in too late creates costly rework.
• How mismanaging the NEPA dependency derails project schedules.
• The risks of fragmented ROW data with no centralized source of data.
• Why projects go to bid before the ROW is secured, and what it costs.
• How staffing shortages and the loss of in-house expertise slow reviews.
• The political dynamics around condemnation that can add months to a timeline.
• Why coordination failures across the full project ecosystem cause the most damage.
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