COLUMBIA -- A federal highway funding bill passed by the House on Friday would send nearly $3 billion to South Carolina over six years, including more than $40 million for Upstate transportation projects.

The bill would pay $6.8 million to build roads in Clemson University's International Center for Automotive Research, $3.6 million to improve West Georgia Road near Simpsonville, and $1 million for a combined bus and train station in Greenville.

President Bush is expected to sign the bill.

The bill includes $81 million toward the state's portion of the proposed Interstate 73 that will connect Detroit and Myrtle Beach and $16 million for a bridge across Lake Marion and that is opposed by Gov. Mark Sanford.

The money is part of a $286.4 billion surface transportation bill that also increases the share of federal gas tax dollars South Carolina can keep. By 2008, officials said, the bill would return to the state 92 percent of the federal gas taxes generated here, up from 90.5 percent now.

"The funding for these projects will improve our infrastructure and make South Carolina more competitive while also improving safety and our quality of life," said U.S. Sen. Jim DeMint of Greenville, who helped work out a compromise between the House and Senate versions of the bill.

"The highway bill is very good news for motorists in South Carolina," said U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham. "It truly moves the ball forward in our efforts to build new roads while maintaining and improving the ones we currently have."

The $2.9 billion is an increase of about 28 percent over the amount the state currently receives, according to the offices of Graham and DeMint.

The bill would also pay for a safety program aimed at rural roads, funding improvements such as rumble strips, wider lanes, guard rails and more and better signs.

South Carolina's back roads are the deadliest in the country behind only Arizona and Florida, a national nonprofit research group has reported. The fatality rate on the state's secondary roads is five times that of other types of roads.

The state has been hampered in its funding of improvements for secondary roads, which total about 25,000 miles in South Carolina, because they are not eligible for federal aid. DeMint filed legislation to give the state more flexibility in its use of highway money. The safety improvements funded by Friday's bills can be used on any public road.

"This bill accomplishes one of my top goals for the year by giving our state more control over our highway dollars," DeMint said. "But much more needs to be done. I hope that the next reauthorization (bill) will address serious reforms and give states full control over their highways."

In addition to the three Greenville County projects, the bill would also fund three Spartanburg County projects: $6.8 million for improvements to State 9; $800,000 for the Brockman-McClimon interchange, which would help construct an additional I-85 airport interchange; and $800,000 for the Hub City Connector, a Spartanburg stretch of the statewide Palmetto Trail for pedestrians and cyclists.

Also funded would be $11.6 million for the Palmetto Parkway in Aiken, $3.7 million for the I-385 interchange for State 14 in Laurens County, $3.6 million for the extension of Wells Highway in Oconee County, $400,000 to replace the Milford Road Bridge and $212,000 to replace the Murphy Road East Bridge, both in Anderson County.

The bill would also pay for $2.2 million in improvements to Frontage Road in Laurens and $188,000 for improvements to Murphy Road West in Anderson County.

"That's good news for those projects," said Tee Hooper of Greenville, who chairs the state Department of Transportation Commission. "Any additional dollars will be a plus."

The I-73 work in South Carolina is expected to cost more than $2 billion. The project has been designated a "Corridor of Regional and National Significance," a label that will make it easier for the state to get I-73 funds in the future, said U.S. Rep. John Spratt.

The bill would also help pay for $16 million toward the $100 million Briggs-Delaine-Pearson Connector, a 9-mile project that would connect Lone Star to Rimini, two Lake Marion communities. U.S. Rep. James Clyburn has championed the project, saying it could open up the area to economic development.

Sanford, however, has criticized the project as unnecessary and a threat to the environment.

Lawmakers initially wanted to spend $375 billion on the highway funding legislation. The Senate-passed version cost $295 billion, while the House voted for $284 billion.

"With pressure from the president and the budget resolution, the conferees stayed closer to the overall spending level of the House. That's good," said U.S. Rep. Bob Inglis of Greenville.