Local officials broke ground on a two-mile streetcar line that will connect South Salt Lake City to the city’s Sugar House Business District, providing new and better transportation choices and economic revitalization to an area where growth had been stalled by the recession.

In addition to making one of Salt Lake City’s most historic neighborhoods more walkable, the Sugar House Streetcar will also provide residents of South Salt Lake City with a direct connection to the Utah Transit Authority’s (UTA) North-South TRAX line at the Central Pointe Station, allowing them access to 130 miles of passenger rail across the Wasatch Front.

The Sugar House Streetcar project is expected to create an estimated 700 construction-related jobs in the near term and add more than 7,500 new permanent jobs to the local economy by 2030, according to the UTA. The project is also expected to generate over $1 billion in new business development along the line.

The $37.2 million construction cost is being funded by a $26 million federal Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery (TIGER) II grant and $11.2 million in local funds provided by the cities of Salt Lake City and South Salt Lake City and the UTA.

The streetcar is expected to open in late 2013.