Tokyo is moving ahead with a long-delayed infrastructure overhaul aimed at restoring open sky to one of the city’s most culturally significant landmarks — the Nihonbashi bridge.

The capital’s 17th-century bridge, long overshadowed — literally — by an elevated expressway, is at the center of a multidecade project to relocate the highway underground in hopes of restoring the scenery around the bridge.

Once complete, the project is expected to reshape a key district of the city’s historic core, with officials promising not just improved traffic flow, but a revived public space.