Officials broke ground on the $53.5-million parking structure at the MBTA Wonderland Blue Line Station in Revere, Mass. The project received $22.7 million in American Recovery and Reinvestment Act dollars earlier this year from the U.S. Department of Transportation's Federal Transit Administration.

"This investment in transportation means jobs in the City of Revere," said U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood. "As the shovels hit the ground and the construction begins, this money is going to put hundreds of people to work now and will improve the lives of thousands more in the future."

The project is a major milestone in the master-planned, half-billion dollar, mixed-used transit-oriented development at Wonderland/Revere Beach.

"This is great news for the City of Revere," said FTA Deputy Administrator Therese McMillan, who attended the groundbreaking. "The Recovery Act is helping put transportation dollars where they are needed most."

The parking garage will provide more than 1,400 parking spaces for the Wonderland Blue Line Station and proposed adjacent privately-funded transit-oriented development project. Construction is expected to be complete in December 2011.