The US Department of Transportation has announced several road and highway projects to be funded from part of the $1.5bn Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery (TIGER) grant programme.

Part of the Recovery Act the grant will finance innovative transportation projects across the US aimed at improving economy and environment in a region.

The grant covers 13 highway infrastructure projects that include major repairs to roads and bridges, such as bridge repairs in Michigan, Indiana and Oklahoma and roadworks in Texas, Vermont and California.

The projects include priority bus transit in the National Capital Region, Sahara Avenue bus rapid transit and I-244 Multimodal bridge replacement, among others.

Nearly 60% of the total funding will go to economically distressed areas, according to the department.