Colorado Springs officials on Thursday officially opened a new pedestrian bridge that connects America the Beautiful Park with the U.S Olympic and Paralympic Museum and downtown.

America the Beautiful Park had long been separated from downtown by railroad tracks, and the new Park Union Bridge solves that problem by connecting it to the revamped southwest side of downtown, dubbed Park Union, while funneling more visitors to the new museum. The Park Union area is also home to the renovated, pedestrian-friendly sidewalks along Vermijo Avenue. To the south is the newly completed Weidner Field multipurpose stadium.

At the ceremony, officials said the new addition to the city was a bridge to the future of Colorado Springs. While addressing a crowd of hundreds gathered on the blue-gray brick plaza outside of the museum and below the bridge, Mayor John Suthers referred to it as a “bridge to the future of Colorado Springs.”

Updated Cog Railway and new summit house officially open at Pikes Peak

Chris Jenkins, who has overseen the broader Park Union project for Nor’Wood Development, said the bridge and sidewalk redesign should draw business investment into the area. Officials had always intended America the Beautiful park to serve as “the front lawn of downtown” with easy access between the park and the city, Jenkins said.

“What Park Union will be is the most interesting addition to our city’s urban core in decades,” Jenkins said.

The event was the third major area ribbon cutting of the week. Officials on Wednesday opened the newly renovated Pikes Peak Cog Railway and the new Pikes Peak Summit Complex.

On Thursday, the routine was familiar for Suthers, who stood with other area representatives at the east entrance of the new bridge while multi-colored ribbons extended in front of them and the Front Range rose in the background.

“Aren’t I supposed to pose with the scissors?” Suthers playfully asked, before using the oversized pair to cut the ribbons and open the bridge.