PORTSMOUTH, N.H. — Officials have move up the celebration for the new Memorial Bridge connecting New Hampshire and Maine.

The ribbon-cutting ceremony is scheduled for Thursday, Aug. 8, at 11 a.m. It had previously been scheduled for Aug. 15.

The New Hampshire Department of Transportation says the bridge connecting Portsmouth and Kittery, Maine, across the Piscataqua River will be opened before that date to motor vehicle, bicycle, and pedestrian traffic once final testing is done.

The celebration is being planned to highlight the historical link between Portsmouth and Kittery. The department says it will include a procession across the bridge and a ribbon-cutting by former Portsmouth Mayor Eileen Foley, who was 5 years old when she cut the ribbon at the original Memorial Bridge opening in 1923.