ROCKINGHAM — The summer paving season on Vermont’s highways is now under way.

And it’s going to be a banner year thanks to the federal economic stimulus package.

On Monday, Gov. Jim Douglas kicked off the paving season at a ceremony in Rockingham where workers started to resurface nine miles of Route 103 between Rockingham and Chester.

The Vermont Transportation Agency put out nearly $300 million in bids for road construction projects this year.

The federal stimulus money coming to Vermont will enable the state to do about 30 paving projects worth about $100 million this summer. Last year the state spent less than $60 million to do 19 paving projects.