BANGOR – The $112,975 transportation bond, Question 1 on the statewide referendum ballot, was headed for an easy win as unofficial ballot returns were tallied early Wednesday morning.

With 78 percent of Maine precincts reporting, the measure was ahead 64,615 votes to 25,464, or 71.7 percent to 28.3 percent.

The borrowing plan, unprecedented in size, will be used to leverage $161 million more in federal transportation funds and $13 million in private funds.

The Maine Department of Transportation argued that passage of the bond issue was critical so the state can begin catching up on road and bridge work that has been deferred or canceled over the last four years. During that time, construction costs have increased 35 percent, meaning DOT’s repair and construction budget has not gone as far as hoped.

In the last two years alone $200 million in work has been deferred.

With the bond’s approval, $100 million will be applied to DOT’s 2008-2009 road and bridge work plan. The remaining $13 million is earmarked for nonhighway and nonbridge needs, such as improvements in railroads, ports and ferries, buses, aviation, and pedestrian and bicycle trails.

Greg Nadeau, DOT’s deputy commissioner, was pleased to learn Tuesday night that the bond appeared to be winning easily.

“Maine people really get transportation and how it impacts their lives and the economy,” he said.

“We’ve got a lot of dedicated men and women at DOT who [will be] working tomorrow morning getting projects out the door,” Nadeau added.

DOT’s two-year work plan calls for $840 million in road and bridge work, making it the largest such plan in state history. The $113 million bond is part of the $840 million work plan.

“Dozens of projects will get done this summer, and hundreds for the next couple of years,” Nadeau said.

Despite pleas for voter participation, turnout was light Tuesday at polling places across Maine.

Across the state, “We expect a minimal turnout,” Secretary of State Matthew Dunlap said Tuesday morning.

A typical off-year election devoted to bond issues would draw a voter turnout of 15 percent to 20 percent, Dunlap said.

As he voted Tuesday morning in his hometown of Bangor, Gov. John Baldacci encouraged other Mainers to cast ballots as well, saying the twin bond issues were important because they have the potential to draw an additional $310 million in federal and other matching funds.

“They mean jobs for our people now and into the future, and will improve our communities from one end of the state to the other,” Baldacci said. There was no organized opposition to either bond issue.

As voting wound down Tuesday night at Bangor Auditorium, voters said they were very much aware of the transportation bond request.

John and Pauline Lefebvre both voted for it.

“Just drive around,” John Lefebvre said by way of explaining his vote. He typically does not support such borrowing measures, he said, “but this time, I thought it really needs it.”

Doug Farnham conceded the bond was probably worthy of passage, but he voted against it, “just to send a message.”

“I’m not happy with state spending, [which is] more than the rate of inflation, more than the rate of earnings growth,” he said.

Dave and Jean Adams voted in favor of the bond. He works for Country Kitchen and drives about 200 miles a day.

“I’m on the road a lot and I see the need,” he said.

His wife agreed.

“I hate to spend the money, but we need to,” she said.

Tuesday’s bond package is the first of a three-part borrowing plan totaling $295 million that was proposed by Baldacci and the Legislature in April. The remaining portions of the total are to be voted on in November of this year and June 2008.

In the referendum next June, DOT plans to bring another bond request before voters that seeks to borrow $23 million.

The Maine Better Transportation Association, which advocates for the transportation industry, paid for an advertising campaign supporting a yes vote on Tuesday’s bond. Though transportation bonds are historically approved, the association feared many people would not know it was on the ballot, and a light turnout could skew results.

The need for the funding is an easy argument to make, said Maria Fuentes, the association’s executive director.

“Our system is getting much older and our roads are really at risk,” Fuentes said before the vote.

The nonhighway and nonbridge portion of the bond is also critical, according to DOT.

The $13 million portion of the bond devotes:

. $3.8 million to passenger and freight rail systems.

. $1.7 million to port and ferry improvements, including $1 million for the Small Harbor Improvement Program and $280,000 toward a federal channel-deepening study in Searsport.

. $3.6 million to transit, including $1 million for fleet expansion in the Island, Shoreline and Mountain Explorer bus systems, and $2.6 million toward an intermodal passenger facility in Trenton.

. $3.2 million for aviation infrastructure.

. $500,000 toward pedestrian and bicycle trails, including the Down East Sunrise Trail in Hancock and Washington counties.

The Secretary of State’s Office said all of the ballots distributed statewide for the bond issues had to be hand-counted. There was not enough time after legislative approval of the package to have optic-scanner ballots printed, officials said.

The bonds were the only statewide questions Tuesday, but a number of municipalities held local elections to choose officials and decide issues.

In five central Maine towns, voters in House District 83 filled a vacancy left by the death of Rep. Abigail Holman, R-Fayette, in April.

In that race, Democrat Deane Jones of Mount Vernon defeated Republican Penelope Morrell of Belgrade, 1,469 to 1,180, according to unofficial returns. The district also includes the towns of Manchester and Vienna.

The Associated Press contributed to this report. For a link to the complete list of projects in DOT’s 2008-2009 work plan, visit www.bangordailynews.net.