LANSING -Michigan is granting $44 million to help 47 counties and 49 cities obtain more than $279 million in federal transportation funds under the state's Jobs Today program.

The money will be used to jumpstart 210 local road projects around the state this year and next, creating nearly 5,000 construction jobs.

The program marks the first time state dollars are being used to fund city and county transportation projects.

"People don't care if the road they're driving on is a state, federal or local road - they just want it to be smooth and safe," said Gov. Jennifer Granholm, who announced the release of the funds on July 25. "We're putting people to work and making our roads work better. For the first time, we are investing state transportation dollars to create jobs and make improvements to local roads that support the economic development efforts of Michigan cities and counties."

In March, Granholm and state lawmakers started talking about amending transportation funding laws to allow the state to issue bonds for local transportation grants and loans. Less than three months later, she signed the legislation into law.

Priority was given to projects that met the following criteria:

• Locally selected federal aid High Priority Projects (HPP) that are ready to be constructed in 2006 or 2007.
• Locally selected federal aid projects scheduled for construction in 2007 that can be advanced to construction in 2006.
• Locally selected federal aid projects scheduled for construction in 2008 that can be advanced to construction in 2007.

There are 46 Michigan cities in line for Jobs Today transportation. Among the biggest spenders will be Grand Rapids ($17.4 million), Detroit ($12.4 million), Oak Park/Berkely/Huntington Woods ($10.1 million) and Port Huron ($6.7 million).