Students at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Husker fans — or your everyday pedestrian — will soon get to enjoy a new streetscape connecting downtown with City Campus. On Thursday, the NU Board of Regents approved an agreement with the city of Lincoln to create an "enhanced pedestrian promenade" near the corner of 10th and Q streets. The $350,000 project, instead of being managed independently by the city, will become part of the finishing touches on UNL's new $81 million Westbrook Music Building replacement, which is scheduled to open next year.
The streetscape enhancement will be entirely funded by the city, UNL officials said, but will be added to the Westbrook project's budget, which is being paid for from deferred maintenance funds set aside by the Legislature, in order for work to proceed concurrently. "If we don't do this, (work) would happen after the project," UNL Vice Chancellor for Business and Finance Mike Zeleny said. "We're asking we do this as part of the project instead of after, so it costs us nothing and actually saves the city money, too.
" Regents approved the measure 8-0. Once completed, the right-most lane of 10th Street north of Q Street would be removed to make space for a widened sidewalk with new landscaping and pedestrian lighting on the east side of the street. According to the city's master plan, the landscaping would also provide a buff er between the street and pedestrian walkway, as well as "signal the change between downtown and campus e.