Mayor Luke Ravenstahl and County Executive Dan Onorato released a $2.22 billion infrastructure wish list yesterday, joining a queue of officials nationwide lining up for a hoped-for federal stimulus package that President-elect Barack Obama's camp has said could total $850 billion.

The city laid out 110 projects totaling $1.07 billion and designed to create 26,447 jobs. The big-ticket items are a $180 million revamp of sewer lines to stop the flow of sewage into the rivers, $252 million for improvements to Pittsburgh Water and Sewer Authority plants and pipes, and riverfront improvements.

Mr. Ravenstahl said he's sending separate lists through the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation and Southwestern Pennsylvania Commission, and the city total will actually be around $1.5 billion. He stressed that no one knows the rules of the emerging stimulus package, and his list may not influence the ultimate decisions.

"I guess my fear is that there's now some expectation that the city's going to get $1.5 billion, or people have this expectation that now this stimulus package is going to save Pittsburgh," he said. "Who knows? They may not pass anything."

But if a significant fraction of the project list is funded, he said, "it would be tremendous."

The county has identified $1.15 billion in priorities, including $150 million in road and bridge projects, $70 million in parks improvements and $15 million in upgrades to county-owned properties.

It also is seeking $100 million in sewer and treatment facilities improvements related to the federal consent decree involving the Allegheny County Sanitary Authority and $580 million in lock and dam projects as outlined by the Port of Pittsburgh Commission.

Virtually all of the projects targeted by the county can start within the next year or two, Mr. Onorato said yesterday. The county has made a deliberate effort to identify as many projects as possible so it can pick and choose, depending on how the funding shakes out.

Mr. Onorato said, for instance, that the county's wish list includes $17 million to $25 million for a proposed sports complex on 78 acres in Robinson, Coraopolis, and Moon in the event there's an emphasis on green initiatives in the stimulus package.

"Whatever the total is that comes to us, we're prepared to prioritize within that total," he said.

Listed among the priorities are $10 million in upgrades to health department facilities in Oakland and Lawrenceville, $3 million to rehab the county morgue, Downtown, and $10 million to dredge North Park Lake.

The county also has targeted more than 50 highway, road, and bridge infrastructure projects, including rehabs of the 10th Street and Mansfield bridges and reconstruction of Corrigan Drive in South Park.

The city's list was written by city and authority officials. Councilman Patrick Dowd suggested that more organizations be brought into the process -- and that appears to be starting.

A Pittsburgh Public Schools spokesperson said the district will join the city's process and add its capital needs to the list.

Heather Arnet, executive director of the Women and Girls Foundation and a school board member, said the emerging effort should include measures to help bridge the gap between male and female wages and help single-parent households.

"This package will not put food on their plates without a concerted and mindful effort to include the female work force in any local or national stimulus package," she said.

The Riverlife Task Force is happy with the list, including a potential request for $18 million to add a pedestrian walkway to the West End Bridge. If the region gets even half of what it's seeking for the riverfronts, "it would be phenomenal," said Riverlife Executive Director Lisa Schroeder.

Some on Pittsburgh City Council have been asking for the list all week. Its release yesterday spawned proposed additions.

"There are some bridge projects on there, but we don't see all of the bridge needs," said Mr. Dowd, adding that the city has to maintain 123 bridges, many of which are in bad shape. "What are we putting on there as far as greening-up of city buildings?"

Councilman William Peduto suggested that help for private developments like the SouthSide Works, Bakery Square and Federal North could be dropped from the list, perhaps in favor of the transformation of a rail line from Hazelwood to Lawrenceville into commuter rail.

Flood control efforts in Hays, a recreation center in Lincoln Place and a replacement for a closing balllfield should be added, Council President Doug Shields wrote in a letter to the administration. "Council's budget office has developed a list that amounts to $2.1 billion," he wrote.

"This is serious stuff," Mr. Ravenstahl countered. "This is the city potentially getting millions and millions and millions of dollars, and we're going to play games and say, 'You're not ready, and so I'm going to do a list myself?' Well, guess what? Then we're going to create a situation where we're not going to be as successful, and we're going to look like we're not prepared and we have two different voices."

As chair of the Southwestern Pennsylvania Commission, Mr. Onorato has asked the 10 member counties to develop a list of priorities as well that may be used as part of a regional submission.

One of the projects that could end up on that list is completion of the Mon-Fayette Expressway, with an estimated cost of $5.2 billion. The county has included a separate $4 billion line item related to that project, and U.S. Sen. Bob Casey, D-Pa., backed such potential spending yesterday as part of the stimulus bill.

"In Western Pennsylvania, some of this will be continuation of existing projects. We should take a hard look at whether we should use some of these resources to move forward with the Mon-Fayette Expressway, for example," he said.

Mr. Casey's office hopes to work with the state and regional planning agencies to develop priorities.