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Last week, the Tri-County Metropolitan Transportation District of Oregon (TriMet) broke ground on a new transit police precinct, the agency's first stimulus-funded project to get under way.

Located at the southern terminus of the future MAX Green Line, the 2,100-square-foot building will cost $600,000 to build. The project will employ two dozen people that were either laid off or would have lost their jobs without the project, and support another 70 jobs. The facility is scheduled to be complete in early September, just before the Green Line opens.

"Over a year ago, we committed to creating a South Precinct in advance of opening the MAX Green Line, but with tight budgets, we were unsure how we would pay for this important security enhancement," said TriMet General Manager Fred Hansen in a prepared statement.

TriMet has received a total of $45 million in American Recovery and Reinvestment Act dollars, plus $8.5 million in stimulus funds from the Oregon Department of Transportation, Metro and other regional partners. The agency plans to complete 30 stimulus-funded projects, creating about 740 direct and 1,100 indirect jobs.