LEWISTON – A federal transportation bill passed Thursday by the U.S. House of Representatives includes $5.8 million to plan and build a downtown turnpike connector in Lewiston and Auburn.

The bill, still subject to a U.S. Senate vote, also includes $2.5 million for improvements to Route 2 between Bethel to Gilead, $1.5 million for improvements to Route 108 in Rumford, and $1 million to improve portions of Route 26 between Bethel and Oxford.

The House vote was 417-9, according to U.S. Rep. Michael Michaud, a member of the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure. That committee proposed the $284 billion transportation reauthorization legislation to fund the nation’s highway and transit needs through 2010.

The bill would direct more than $1 billion to Maine in the next six years, including $59.5 million that Michaud secured for specific needs in Maine’s 2nd Congressional District.

Under the bill, Maine is estimated to receive $1.078 billion in the next six years for highways alone. In the last six-year bill, Maine received about $876 million.

Local planners have been waiting since last fall for the reauthorization bill to pass, said Bob Thompson, executive director of the Androscoggin Valley Council of Governments.

The new Lewiston-Auburn exit off the Maine Turnpike could be built almost anywhere between Exit 75 in Auburn and Exit 80 in Lewiston.

Efforts so far have focused on Route 136 in Auburn and River Road in Lewiston. The state is also considering building a new bridge between Lewiston and Auburn south of South Bridge and north of the new interchange.