The National Zoo’s 20-year strategy to boost exhibit space, increase parking and generally improve the experience for its more than 3 million annual visitors won final approval Thursday from a regional planning body.

The Smithsonian Institution’s long-range master plan for the nation’s second-oldest zoo features a three-station aerial tram running the length of its 163 acres, a 1,128-space parking garage at the midpoint entry, a total overhaul of zoo infrastructure, seven new animal exhibits, and new plazas and visitor amenities throughout.