An interface barrier which has divided north Belfast for 20 years is to be opened today.
The metal and concrete structure was put up following sectarian clashes between Catholics and Protestants in a deprived working class area a few miles from the city centre.
It is the latest obstruction to be removed from one of the most divided parts of Northern Ireland.
Kate Clarke, a worker at the North Belfast Interface Network, said: "It became a question of how do we strengthen relations within communities, and it was seen that these barriers were an element that stood out as showing division so how could we address those."
The barrier at the junction of Limestone Road and Newington Street will remain open from 7am to 4pm Monday to Friday for three months until a review. It was designed to bar traffic but allow pedestrians through following a spate of killings.
Part of the delay in the reopening resulted from the opposition of local people to making the street a thoroughfare again - because of increased traffic volumes rather than enmity. Traffic-calming measures quelled their concerns.
Justice Minister David Ford said: "Progress in removing barriers will depend on community support and I welcome the engagement of the people in the Newington area who are prepared to take this positive step.
"The Department of Justice is committed to working in partnership with local communities who want to remove such barriers and to take steps to build a shared future."
North Belfast was one of the hotspots of the Troubles, with a large proportion of killings confined to that densely built-up area.
It is a patchwork of small Protestant and Catholic neighbourhoods where many people who are close neighbours were also bitter enemies during the conflict.
Murderous gangs like the Shankill Butchers targeted Catholics there, and nearby Ardoyne's Holy Cross school made world headlines when Catholic children were targeted walking to school in 2001. Many people from both communities died in paramilitary violence.
North Belfast still features annual bouts of rioting linked to dissident republicans and Orange Order marches but efforts have been made by community workers to improve relations and the area is usually relatively quiet.
Ford, who leads the Alliance Party which represents Catholics and Protestants and campaigns for a shared future, has been pressing for progress in bringing down barriers across Northern Ireland.
A gate at Alexandra Park, the only park in western Europe with a three-metre high fence running through the middle, was recently removed.
There are almost 90 barriers separating Protestant and Catholic neighbourhoods across Northern Ireland, most in Belfast. More walls have been erected during the peace process than during conflict and within them many people use segregated services like schools.
A £2m fund aimed at bringing down Northern Ireland's walls by building confidence between divided communities has been announced.
Acknowledging that the infamous landmarks can only be removed with the support of the people living on each side, the International Fund for Ireland (IFI) project hopes to break down some of the non-physical barriers dividing them first.
The IFI's Peace Walls Programme is designed to be the first stage in a process leading to the removal of the walls.
The money funds confidence and relationship-building initiatives within and between interface communities to help them arrive at a position where residents feel it is safe and appropriate for the walls to come down.