By Barbara Boyer/Philly.com/September 6 2016 CAMDEN –

A $16.2 million federal grant to improve roads and infrastructure in Camden neighborhoods near the Ben Franklin Bridge is critical for the city, local and state officials said at a news conference Tuesday.

"Camden is rising," said U.S. Rep. Donald Norcross (D., N.J.), who joined Camden Mayor Dana L. Redd, City Council President Frank Moran, and New Jersey's U.S. senators, Bob Menendez and Cory Booker.

The politicians stood at Third and Elm Streets, where the bridge could be seen in the background. Passersby drove slowly through the intersection, trying to see what was happening.

Roads will improve, jobs will increase, and neighborhoods will be safer, the officials said, describing Camden as a "renaissance" city that is making a comeback similar to Newark, where Booker once served as mayor.

"I believe the work Camden is doing can be a model for the rest of the country," Menendez said, calling the grant a victory.

The funding, awarded through the Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery program under the U.S. Department of Transportation, will improve two miles of roads north of the bridge.

The grant program is intended to spur economic development. Camden was among 40 communities across the country that received the grants, totaling nearly $500 million, this year.

For more details about the TIGER grant, click here.