The local effort to widen heavily congested Interstate 215 through Southwest County received a boost Wednesday from a state panel.

Meeting in Sacramento, the California Transportation Commission approved $674 million for 35 transportation projects throughout the state, including $13 million for the section of I-215 between Interstate 15 in Murrieta and Nuevo Road in Perris.

The $13 million was added to the $38 million the commission earlier this year allocated for I-215 through Murrieta and Menifee.

"It's definitely good news," said John Standiford, a spokesman for the Riverside County Transportation Commission, which began designing the project earlier this summer. "This is one of our top priorities. We want to build as much as we can as quickly as we can."

Standiford said the latest award will help ensure that work to widen the freeway from four to six lanes will begin, as expected, sometime in 2009 or 2010. He said construction will start on the southern end, at the I-15/215 split, and work its way north.

For the most part, the project can proceed without buying land and replacing bridges, with the notable exception being the bridge at Highway 74, Standiford said.

Totaling $51 million, the two state awards for I-215 both came out of the $20 billion transportation bond California voters approved last November, albeit from different accounts. One account is targeted at delivering congestion relief and the other aims to shore up the state highway system.

Standiford said the commission will combine the state funds with local sales-tax revenue from Measure A to pay for construction.