Tacoma City Council voted Tuesday to approve a resolution to formally accept 16 grants totaling just over $31 million to pay for a variety of infrastructure projects ranging from roadways, bridges, trails, bikeways and a public esplanade.

Among the 12 projects to receive big-dollar grants: nearly $20 million to replace a large section of the Puyallup River Bridge; $3 million to repair the bridge deck on the Union Avenue Viaduct; $1.88 million to repair the Schuster Parkway Bridge; $1.5 million to upgrade the city’s infrastructure for cyclists and pedestrians; and nearly $1.3 million to upgrade signs and pavement markings at traffic signals at various intersections citywide.

“The City has aggressively applied for grants for numerous infrastructure projects,” wrote Tacoma Public Works engineer Chris Larson in an April 19 memo. “The projects are scheduled for design and construction during the next few years.”

The complete list of projects includes Puyallup River Bridge ($19,150,000); Union Ave Viaduct ($3,000,000); Schuster Parkway ($1,880,000); Top 4 Bikeways ($1,500,000); Citywide Safety Improvements ($1,294,950); South Mildred Street improvements between South 12th Street and South 19th Street ($942,792); Pacific Avenue Streetscape Project ($800,000); Milwaukee Way / Lincoln Avenue to Marshall Street ($750,000); Historic Water Ditch Trail Phase Three and Four ($600,000); Thea Foss Waterway sites 10 and 11 ($550,000); South 72nd Street and Hosmer Street at the Interstate-5 onramp ($340,000); and South 25th Street Corridor signal improvements ($251,097).

“The $31 million on the list tonight will be added to existing project funding for a total of $61.5 million for the 12 projects,” Larson told councilmembers during the meeting Tuesday. “Of this total, $58 million is in grant funding, and $7.2 million is in city funds. So this represents a significant leverage of city funds. Other 2013 projects include another $42 million in projects that are not on this list that includes projects such as Stadium Way, Tacoma Avenue Bridge, and other trail and road projects.”

Councilmembers David Boe and Marty Campbell commended staff on their success in securing grant funding.

“Thank you for your hard work on pursuing these grants and writing grants in such a way that we’re awarded them,” said Campbell.