As data center construction accelerates, improvements to roads, bridges and other infrastructure could take a hit, according to Bloomberg.
In 2025, state and local governments reportedly sold record amounts of bonds for the second year in a row, and strategists predict an additional $600 billion in sales next year. Most of that money is expected to fund infrastructure projects.
Meanwhile, private spending on data center construction remains at an annual rate of more than $41 billion, about the same as state and local government spending on transportation construction, according to Census Bureau data.
All of these projects are likely to compete for construction workers, just as the industry faces labor shortages due to retirements and President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown.
Andrew Anagnost, CEO of architecture and design software maker Autodesk, told Bloomberg there is “no question whatsoever” that data center construction is “siphoning resources from other projects.”
“I guarantee you that many of those (infrastructure) projects are not going to move forward as quickly as people would like them to,” he said.
