The Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century (TEA-21) directed the United States General Accounting Office (GAO) to assess the impact that delays in relocating utilities were having on the delivery and cost of Federal-aid highway and bridge projects. The reader may review the entire for more information.

In summary, the report identified the following areas that may cause delays:

Short periods for the State to plan and design a project.
Relocations given low priority by utilities.
Increased workload on utility adjustment crews because of an increase in highway and bridge construction.
Delays in starting utility adjustment because some utilities would not start work until a construction contract was advertised or let.
The phasing of construction and utility relocation work was out of sequence.
There was inadequate coordination or sequencing among the utilities.
Inaccurate locating and marking of existing utility facilities.
Delays in obtaining right of way.
Shortages of labor and equipment for the utility contractor.
Project design changes that require changes to utility relocation designs.
Utilities were slow in responding to contractor’s requests to locate and mark underground utilities.