ST. PAUL — Gov. Mark Dayton’s administration on Thursday directed $300 million toward ten highway construction projects that the Minnesota transportation commissioner said are meant to break up bottlenecks and improve the movement of freight around the state.

The projects, which the administration dubbed “Corridors of Commerce,” were designed not just to relieve congestion but to do so in spots where it’s hindered economic growth, said Transportation Commissioner Charlie Zelle. Construction on five of the projects will begin next summer, with three more planned for 2015 and the final two in 2016.

The $300 million will come in the form of transportation bonds; Zelle said his department determined it had enough debt capacity to include the new projects on top of other transportation funding plans. Competition for the money was fierce. The department got 400 proposals related to 100 different road projects around the state.

“This is a down payment,” Zelle said. While the $300 million is enough to fully fund those ten projects, he and Dayton said that only amounts to a tiny portion of what’s needed to simply maintain the state’s aging transportation infrastructure — much less improve it.

Dayton and Zelle said they intend to propose a comprehensive transportation funding package to state lawmakers ahead of their 2014 session, one that could include a gas tax hike and other new transportation-related tax hikes or fee increases.