The Maine Department of Transportation (DOT) plans to invest $2.02bn over the next three years to improve roads and bridges across the state.

The Three Year Work Plan, from 2014 to 2016, will utilise $100m in state transportation bonds and federal highway funds to invest in more than 1,600 projects that will be taken up across all of the state’s 16 counties.

Governor Paul LePage and Transportation Commissioner David Bernhardt said the three-year work plan will create hundreds of jobs for contractors and construction workers.

"Our transportation infrastructure is the backbone that delivers economic opportunities."

Governor LePage said: "The work plan represents more than a listing of projects. Our transportation infrastructure is the backbone that delivers economic opportunities and good, paying jobs to Maine.

"That’s why I will continue to support the Maine DOT’s innovative efforts to upgrade our transportation system and to keep stretching that buck."

As part of the department’s work plan, $904m will be invested in highway and bridge capital projects; $158m in multimodal capital projects; $295m in 126 bridge construction projects; and $244m for 212 miles of highway construction and rehab.

Around $213m will be allocated for 718 miles of pavement preservation; $83m for 1,800 miles of light capital paving; and $86m for 190 spot and safety improvements.

A total of 425 projects will be taken up this year, at a cost of $455m.

The key projects to be completed this year include replacement of the Sarah Mildred Long Bridge between Kittery and Portsmouth, New Hampshire; reconstruction of the Eastport Breakwater; improvements at International Marine Terminal in Portland; upgrades at the Brunswick Executive Airport; and 11 miles of highway reconstruction on Route 302 between Bridgton and Fryeburg.