A new bill passed by the US House, if made law, would increase US funding for transportation projects such as highway building by almost 5% to $79.4bn.

The bill, HR 5850, if passed by the US Senate, would increase highway construction funds to $45.2bn in the fiscal year 2011, up 10% on last year’s total of $41.1bn.

Funding for the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration would also go up 3% to $883m, according to Bloomberg.

US House Representative Carolyn Kilpatrick said the bill would help fix the crumbling roads and bridges in the country.