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GREENSBORO - The federal government will spread $787 billion around to boost the economy, and local governments want to make sure they get their share.

Municipal and state leaders are busy sorting through the dense stimulus package, which President Barack Obama signed Tuesday, trying to figure out if any items from their wish lists fit the bill.

Triad leaders already know the area will get $36.6 million in road projects and perhaps as much as $2 million for programs run by Greensboro Housing and Community Development. Guilford County Schools also will get a yet-to-be determined slice of the pie.

But it's not yet certain if other items - such as Greensboro's extensive list of construction items - have a chance for funding.

"I talked with the governor's staff just yesterday," Assistant City Manager Denise Turner said. "They assured me, in the next few days it will be clear what we need to do to apply for the funding."

The hotly debated stimulus package provides money for infrastructure projects. It funds more than 30 programs cities might be able to apply for, said Charles Archer, an official with the N.C. League of Municipalities.

"We are trying to track about 32 different programs, and there is still not a whole lot of information out there yet about what the process is going to be," Archer said. "Everybody wants to know, 'Where's mine?'"

In January, the Greensboro City Council approved a 62-item, $309 million list of projects it would like to see funded. The projects included everything from War Memorial Auditorium renovations to new hybrid buses.

Turner said utility projects like the Townsend Dam might be good candidates. She plans to update the City Council on the issue Tuesday.

The city likely will be eligible for between $1.5 million and $2 million in federal community development block grant funds, said Andy Scott, director of Greensboro Housing and Community Development.

Scott said the funds could be used for community revitalization projects or for an already-promised grant to the civil rights museum.

It is unclear whether any of Greensboro's road or sidewalk projects will be funded.

So far, the state has approved four no-frills, shovel-ready road projects that will be funded with the stimulus.

They include a road widening in Burlington and three repaving projects on major highways in Guilford, Alamance and Rockingham counties, said Mike Mills, state Department of Transportation engineer for Division 7, which includes those counties.

"We're working as fast as we can to get these projects out the door," Mills said.

"We need to get these things done quick."

The largest project, the $18.6 million widening of Mebane Street in Burlington, will change the street to four lanes between Huffman Mill Road near Burlington Square Mall and Chapel Hill Road.

The other projects include repaving Interstate 85 from Groometown Road to the I-85/Business 85 split at a cost of $4 million; a similar project on I-85 from Rock Creek Dairy Road in eastern Guilford to University Drive in Alamance, carrying a price tag of $10 million; and redoing a badly worn stretch of concrete pavement on U.S. 29 in southern Rockingham County for about $4 million.

More transportation projects, perhaps including local ones, will be selected in another wave of funding later this year, Mill said.

A chunk of the stimulus package - $100 billion - has been designated for education.

The American Association of School Administrators estimated that Guilford County could get as much as $32 million for failing schools and students with special needs. But school officials said it was too soon to say how much of the $640 million going to North Carolina schools will go to individual communities.

The stimulus package also includes money to help state budgets - about 80 percent of which must be spent on education. The state's share is $1.4 billion, said Philip Price, associate superintendent for the N.C. Department of Instruction.

Contact Amanda Lehmert at 373-7075 or amanda.lehmert@news-record.com

Contact Taft Wireback at 373-7100 or taft.wireback@news-record.com