ABILENE, Texas -- Abilene was recently awarded $700,000 in federal dollars from the state to spruce up South 1st Street between Butternut and Locust.

You may have noticed on North 1st just over the railroad tracks there are tree lined sidewalks, decorative lighting and brick paving all to create an inviting area for pedestrians to walk.

Well the City hopes to do the same thing to the Southside of 1st Street.

The first project in the bigger South Downtown Master Plan to rejuvenate the South downtown area.

The street make-over is also to make it safer for pedestrians to cross easily between the North and South downtown areas.

Jon James with the Planning and Development Department for the City of Abilene said, "It's hard getting across South 1st street. You basically have to run all the way across traffic, this will create a safer way to do that. Not to mention the median will be landscaped and it'll be a nicer looking roadway."

Right now, the look of the project is still up in the air and deciding whether city employees or an outside company will design the project is the first step before the project gets underway.