The $25 million plan calls for an 87-acre pedestrian-friendly campus core and would shut down Union Road, among other changes.

Cars, their fumes and asphalt would be out, and pedestrians and walkable pathways would be in, under a plan unveiled at the University of Florida's Board of Trustees meeting Friday.

The $25 million plan calls for an 87-acre pedestrian-friendly campus core and would shut down Union Road, among other changes.

The idea is to increase density in the eastern quadrant of campus near Ben Hill Griffin Stadium, while decreasing motorist activity near the heart of campus.

Chris Jones, principal with CRJA-IBI Group, a landscape architectural design and environmental planning practice, gave trustees an overview of the plan. Jones is a consultant on UF's Landscape Master Plan.

The plan would close Union Road, a road that runs next to Tigert Hall and intersects at Newell and Buckman Drives, so it can be turned into a pedestrian walkway.

The idea, he said, would be to keep traffic and their fumes out of the core of the campus, near Plaza of The Americas, where students spend most of their time.

Union Road would be narrowed from about 40 feet wide to about 21 feet, Jones said. The pedestrian walkway would run from Union Road off Southwest 13th Street to Newell Drive. The once-drivable Newell Road section near Turlington Hall would also be turned into a walkable path and a plaza would be built around Century Tower.

Turlington Plaza could be raised to create a stage area for plaza performances, Jones said.

Plans to improve the landscaping in front of Ben Hill Griffin Stadium was also proposed. Jones said UF can't keep cars off the lawn and put in grass and landscaping, so the consultants are suggesting it be as a premier tailgating venue on UF football game days and for recreational activities on non-game days.

Plans to improve the Reitz Union's lawns and other walkable pathways were also proposed.

Jones said the landscaping improvements will set UF apart from other public universities.

“This creates a pedestrian-friendly campus core of about 87 acres,” he said. “None of your peer institutions have anything like this.”

The price tag on master landscaping plan, as it sits currently, is $25 million.

The Century Tower plaza is expected to cost $4 million, the Union Drive walkway should cost about $3 million and the landscape improvements to the Reitz Union's east and north lawns should cost $3.5 million.

The stadium lawn improvements are proposed to cost $4.5 million, a project to add a lane to Inner Road will cost $3 million and $2 million is slated for infrastructure improvements. Other smaller projects make up the remainder of the tab.

No action was taken on the proposal, nor was there a timeline attached, but trustees Chairman Mori Hosseini said he enjoyed the presentation and called on the board to make it happen.

“We are the University of Florida, the state’s flagship university,” Hosseini said. “We need to set the example.”

David Manfredi, an architectural consultant who also works with UF, presented a plan that would increase density in UF’s eastern quadrant near its football stadium.

Within the eastern quadrant of campus, there is nearly 2.5 million gross square feet of space that can be filled with academic buildings and living space to increase density in a part of campus sprawled too far apart, he said.

The plan is in line with UF's master development plan to increase density on campus.

Manfredi said the infill would better connect that segment of UF's campus and boost students' sociability.

The plan also shows UF "protecting its borders," Manfredi said, by entering private-public partnerships to build housing on West University Avenue or at least have a say in what is built on the outskirts of campus.

Other news during the two-day board meeting included the board approving a 5.5 percent increase in faculty parking decal fees, effective May 1. The fees will help recoup costs of a multi-million parking garage being built on Gale Lemerand Drive.

Increasing access to Lake Alice was also discussed at the meeting.