Commas

Q. In my role as an editor, I frequently face preposition-conjunction combinations such as this: “The analysis assesses the availability of and access to community services.” Does this need commas?

A. Commas around the second phrase (“and access to”) will indicate that it is somewhat parenthetical, an afterthought, so use them only if that’s the writer’s intention.

[This answer relies on the 17th edition of CMOS (2017) unless otherwise noted.]