SOUTH BEND, Ind. - The City of South Bend was given a $2.4 million federal grant to fund planning work on the Eddy Street bridge over the St. Joseph River.

The Rebuilding American Infrastructure with Sustainability and Equity grant will support the planning and engineering of the outdated infrastructure, which includes the cloverleaf interchanges on the bridge and the street network around the South Bend Farmers Market known as the Market District.

Money will be used to study the impacts of removing the cloverleaf interchanges in favor of a network of neighborhood scaled streets that would be safer for drivers and pedestrians, city officials said.

This review work is expected to take up to three years to complete.

After that, the city will look to apply for other federal funds to construct the project.

"I am proud of our City team for winning this competitive RAISE grant that will advance connectivity, sustainability, equity, safety and quality of life in our community," said Mayor James Mueller. "Our Market District is already a regional destination. This major infrastructure project will take the neighborhood to the next level."

The infrastructure grant is administered through the U.S. Department of Transportation.

South Bend was one of 166 projects chosen as a grant recipient. The city matched the grant award with $600,000.