Pedestrians cross a street in downtown Lawrence in this file photo from Thursday, July 17, 2014.

The City of Lawrence has been nationally recognized as a pedestrian friendly community, and city leaders are taking note of ways to improve the ranking in the future.

Lawrence was awarded a silver ranking this week by Walk Friendly Communities, a national recognition program that evaluates city’s walking environments.

“This is a good tool for the community to see the progress that the city has made to pedestrian improvements,” City Engineer David Cronin said. “And at the same time, it’s good to get feedback from the outside and recommendations for improvements.”

This is the first time the city has applied to the ranking program, and the city’s silver placement is third in the ranking’s four tiers: bronze, silver, gold and platinum. The program evaluates accessibility, safety and engineering, as well as city planning and policy. The evaluation lists positive aspects of the city’s walking environment and how to improve it.

“I think this is a great start for the City of Lawrence,” Mayor Leslie Soden said in a news release. “We needed to take a baseline measurement to know where we’re starting from.”

Lawrence received high marks for its Safe Routes to School program, pedestrian crossing infrastructure, as well as its street repair and development policies. Specifically, the evaluation noted that the city’s complete streets policy and land use ordinances are “generally supportive of walking.”

Cronin said the city requires new residential developments to include sidewalks and connections to existing sidewalks and trails. He said as a result of the complete streets policy, sidewalks and other pedestrian infrastructure such as signage and crosswalks are typically replaced or added when a street is reconstructed.

“The policies give direction to evaluate all modes of transportation and to consider additional improvements for pedestrians and bicycles when we’re looking at street projects,” Cronin said.

Safe Routes to School involves the city and various other local partners to map and improve paths to school for pedestrians and bicycles. As far as pedestrian safety infrastructure, the evaluation noted that the city maintains crosswalks, countdown signals and pedestrian beacons. The city now has more than 14 beacons, which provide a flashing, overhead traffic signal between blocks that pedestrians can activate to cross the street.

Evaluators noted several areas where Lawrence could improve access or safety for pedestrians, some of which have also been pushed by residents and community groups. Recommendations included a clearer implementation of the complete streets policy, additional traffic safety measures and more funding for sidewalk gaps and maintenance.

“We’ve heard the community’s concerns about sidewalks and their interest in creating a more walkable Lawrence,” Soden said. “This assessment is a great first step, but we know more work needs to be done.”

The evaluation states there is “a relatively small budget for maintenance and filling gaps.” Other than the use of about $100,000 of federal funding to fill sidewalk gaps, the city’s 2017 budget includes $200,000 for traffic calming and $450,000 for bicycle, pedestrian and sidewalk ramp improvements. Property owners are responsible for maintaining sidewalks adjacent to their homes or rentals, though the City Commission is considering a policy that would provide financial assistance to low-income residents.

As far as safety, recommendations encourage the city to conduct a pedestrian safety evaluation and increase speed control and safety measures for high pedestrian areas. Cronin said such measures could mean more law enforcement presence, traffic calming devices or changes to traffic signals. For instance, a traffic signal exclusively for pedestrian crossing could be added instead of pedestrian crossings that are done at the same time traffic is turning left on green or right on red.

“I think it’s good to get this feedback and we’re looking forward to continuing to invest in these improvements going forward,” Cronin said.