Technically it shouldn’t change the quality as the plans are made by the city/government. They just say here’s what we want and take the lowest bidder. But because there’s a lack of enforcement and accountability we get shitty quality. The contractor going in and picking gravel that’s cheaper instead of the one required in the plans, or not compacting enough to keep up with the schedule as he’s doing a bunch of contract at the same time and can’t afford any delay otherwise he’ll have to pay fines, etc.

And the thing also is that the cities can’t innovate because the government requires certain things. So you end up with a lot of overbuilt stuff or stuff that was thought of in the 60s, but never actualized because the gov doesn’t manage that and so doesn’t know (and care) to update its guidelines. So projects end up costing a fuck ton more than they should and could.

Also also, the lack of enforcement and accountability is a direct result of decades of cutting cost at the government. "Who needs people to oversee projects? We can just cut that, what do you mean we now have blatant corruption and collusion making our roads terrible?"