The federal stimulus will deliver $940 million to Hawai'i over the next two years, creating or sustaining an estimated 15,000 jobs through investments in education, transportation, energy, and communications infrastructure.

Gov. Linda Lingle signed two orders in her office yesterday that allow the state to accept the money and put projects out to bid. A list of all transportation projects the state wants to fund with federal stimulus money is due at the U.S. Department of Transportation today.

Lingle thanked the four county mayors and U.S. Sen. Daniel K. Inouye for working with state officials long before the stimulus act was signed into law to identify needs and projects that were ready to launch the moment federal money was secured.

"The purpose of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act is to jump-start economic growth for our nation," said Inouye, in a statement. "For Hawai'i, today's announcement of highway and airport projects moves us in this direction."

"We know we're in a historically tough time," said Lingle, discussing the stimulus money at her office yesterday. "We do see a bright future ahead once we get through this difficult period."

Some of the projects lined up to receive federal stimulus money have been on the books for years but so far have been unable to receive funding.

Hawai'i will receive $127.5 million for state and county highway improvement projects.

Of this total, the state will use $63 million for 10 separate projects on Kaua'i, O'ahu, the Big Island, Maui and Moloka'i.

The counties will divide $64.9 million with the Big Island receiving $35.6 million, O'ahu $19.2 million, Kaua'i $6 million and Maui County $4.12 million, according to state officials.

On O'ahu, the money will be used in part to replace the South Punalu'u Bridge on Kamehameha Highway and to perform a seismic retrofit of Farrington Highway and Makakilo Separation structures that arch over the H-1 Freeway, officials said.

The infrastructure projects tapped to receive federal money were put together by the Federal Highways Administration, the state Department of Transportation, the four county transportation directors and the O'ahu Metropolitan Planning Organization.

All county highway projects are being coordinated by the state.

"We are making smart investments by choosing these projects wisely. This effort has not come easily ... it has been all about working together," said Brennon T. Morioka, director of the state Department of Transportation.

In deciding what road projects to submit to the federal government, state and county officials had to evaluate whether a project was ready to be put out for bid in the next six to eight weeks and whether an environmental impact study was needed.

The federal funding formula also demands transparency and orders the state and counties to distribute the work across all the Islands and in "economically distressed zones and areas where the project would have an impact in creating jobs," according to the state.