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KANSAS CITY, Mo. — A new pedestrian bridge is officially open Thursday, and local leaders say it’s been a long time coming.

The Missouri Department of Transportation and the National Park Service dedicated Powder Mill Pedestrian Bridge Thursday morning.

A local drill team led attendees in a ceremonial walk across it. The bridge is attached to the Bannister Road Bridge over I-435 near Cerner’s new campus located at the site of the old Bannister Mall.

The pedestrian bridge IS special because of its location. It links three historic trails that converge in the metro — the Santa Fe, Oregon and California trails.

Local leaders say it’s the first piece of an urban trail system that they believe rivals most bigger cities.

“Even though we’re standing here in an urban environment, and we’re on top of a freeway, we’re in the footsteps of the original trail travelers from the 19th century and that’s pretty exciting,”said Aaron Mahr with the National Park Service.