The state of public-private collaboration in U.S. infrastructure markets has never been a straightforward story. There is always a lot of activity and forces working under the surface. Oddly, with the full effects of COVID-19 still unclear and a new Biden administration on deck, there seems to be as much roiling under the hood as ever.

The severe downturn in local economies and budgets has created a push-pull dynamic in the market. Some municipalities are trying to take advantage of the shutdowns to accelerate projects. Others have delayed or cancelled them. As the project-level story unfolds, both sides of the political aisle are looking to infrastructure development to help fuel local economic recovery. With both fiscal and monetary policy expected to be supportive of this for the foreseeable future, there is every reason to expect more private activity in infrastructure as a result.

But after decades of market focus on creating equity investment and public-private p