All around Market Square, the face of Downtown Pittsburgh is changing: Dunkin' Donuts opened on one corner, Buon Giorno added a balcony to its restaurant on another, Market Square Place is converting the former G.C. Murphy store into a new YMCA and condominiums. Half a block away, construction is finishing on Three PNC Plaza, which will feature offices, a luxury hotel and more condos overlooking what once was the hub of Downtown activity.

Now, it's the historic square's turn for a makeover.

Mayor Luke Ravenstahl and the Pittsburgh Downtown Partnership yesterday unveiled a $5 million plan to make Market Square a more pedestrian-friendly area with less traffic and wider sidewalks to encourage more street dining.

The design, which was unveiled at the partnership's annual meeting, will stop all through traffic on Forbes Avenue, eliminate all bus traffic and send cars around the perimeter of the square. Instead of raised planters that are the centerpieces of the four quadrants of the square, the site will become a level area with trees, tables and a decorative stone surface.

"We've been waiting a long time for Market Square to be paid more attention to," said Corey Nicholas, whose family owns Nicholas Coffee and is remodeling the Buhl Building just off the square. "We just have to put up with the disruption and wait for the work to be done. It will be good for the area, sure."

The project, which is scheduled to begin construction in August and be completed by May 2010, will include doubling the width of sidewalks around the square.

The design allows the square to be used as four distinct areas or one larger area, depending on activity on a given day. A stage will remain part of the area, but it hasn't been decided whether it will be a permanent or portable structure. Small speakers will be scattered through the square to carry music when there aren't live performances.

Decorative lighting will be installed to highlight the upper facades of buildings, and 27 parking spaces will be available along the perimeter adjacent to the sidewalks.

Mr. Ravenstahl and Michael Edwards, president and chief executive officer of the Downtown partnership, stressed the goal is to make the square more friendly to pedestrians.

"The idea is that traffic will be slower and there will be one large piazza, like you might find in Europe," said designer Dina Cole Klavon of Klavon Design Associates of South Side. "It will be a different feeling. The pedestrian will rule."

Mr. Edwards said the timing is right to upgrade the square in light of other improvements in the area.

"In some ways, we're catching up to the development around the square," Mr. Edwards said. "The private stuff is there already and now we're following through with the public part."

The improvements can't come soon enough for Irene Gargani of Buon Giorno.

"We're excited for it," she said. "The ideas are good. If you can take away the traffic and make it easier for people to get around, we'll go for that."

The final design comes after 18 months of public discussion. It is a combination of three possible designs outlined at public meetings last spring.

Mr. Ravenstahl said the city has raised $4.5 million of the money for the project and expects to seek bids in May, begin construction by August and finish work in May 2010. Funding includes $2 million from the state, $1 million each from the Richard K. Mellon Foundation and Heinz Endowments and $500,000 from Colcom Foundation.

The mayor said he expects the remaining $500,000 will be easy to raise once people see the plans.

The physical changes also follow an increased police presence in the square that Mr. Nicholas said has made "a drastic improvement" in the atmosphere there in the past year.

"We're very excited about this project," Mr. Nicholas said. "I just can't imagine how anyone could be against it."