As a ripple effect of the federal stimulus legislation, four city bike-pedestrian projects, some long delayed, are in line for additional funding that will allow construction to begin late this year or early next year.

About $5.7 million in federal funding will go toward a riverfront park at the David L. Lawrence Convention Center, Downtown; a pedestrian bridge connecting Shadyside and East Liberty; underpass improvements at Anderson and Sandusky streets on the North Side; and a new bridge along the Eliza Furnace Trail at Bates Street in Oakland.

A committee of the Southwestern Pennsylvania Commission, the regional planning agency for 10 counties, advanced the projects yesterday by amending the region's long-range transportation plan.

All are benefiting from funds that were freed up by the recent infusion of federal stimulus money.

Patrick Hassett, the city's assistant public works director for transportation and engineering, said all four projects are now fully funded, with contracts expected to be bid in September or October.

The $8.5 million convention center project will fill a missing link in the riverfront trail from the Strip District to Point State Park. It will extend from the Rachel Carson Bridge at Ninth Street to the old Fort Wayne railroad bridge.

Plans call for a cantilevered riverwalk, landscaped slope and a boat landing. It will be accessible from the water feature that runs beneath the convention center at 10th Street.

"This is another one of those riverfront projects that has been in the making for many years," said Lisa Schroeder, executive director of Riverlife, a public-private agency that promotes riverfront redevelopment. "It's a very innovative project on a very difficult site."

The $1.4 million Shadyside-East Liberty pedestrian bridge will link Shadyside and the Eastside development that includes Whole Foods, Borders and a planned Target store.

The 26-foot-wide, roughly 100-foot-long span over the Port Authority's Martin Luther King Jr. East Busway has been talked about for at least four years but delayed by funding and right-of-way problems.

Discussions about major improvements to the foreboding railroad underpasses on Anderson and Sandusky streets go back more than a decade.

"It's long been a sore spot ... They're dark, decayed, dangerous and they serve as a barrier between the near neighborhoods of the North Side, the attractions of the North Shore and the jobs Downtown," said Mark Fatla, executive director of the Northside Leadership Conference.

The $2.4 million project includes installation of new lighting, sidewalks, curbs and aesthetic improvements.

Abutment walls will be cleaned, repaired, and coated. Steel fascia beams will be cleaned and painted; concrete fascia beams will be repaired; and covers will be installed on the columns at Anderson Street. A canopy is proposed in each underpass.

The project "makes the near neighborhoods more marketable" by better connecting them to North Shore amenities, the riverfront and Downtown, Mr. Fatla said. "It means we can see the light, literally, at the end of the underpass."

Along the Eliza Furnace Trail, which stretches from behind the PNC Firstside Center, Downtown, to Oakland, a low-clearance railroad bridge will be replaced. The SPC panel endorsed $735,000 to complete financing of the project, which has been in the works since 2002.

The new bridge will be higher and longer to allow for greater clearances for traffic underneath and for the widening of Bates Street to five lanes. Other project elements are sidewalks, landscaping, scenic overlooks, benches, lighting, and signs.

Mr. Hassett said the trail will remain open during construction.