SPOKANE -- Senator Patty Murray announced federal grants for projects to reduce traffic congestion in Spokane and Seattle.

The north Spokane corridor project will receive $35 million to help create a 60 mph highway connecting Interstate 90 with Highway 395.

Seattle will also receive money; The Mercer corridor project in Seattle will receive $30 million to help resolve the so-called "Mercer mess" and improve traffic flow through the south Lake Union area between Interstate 5 and the Seattle Center.

The grants announced Wednesday come from the TIGER -- Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery -- program in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.