It’s another program that will help put Iowa State on the map. It even helped spruce up that map.

The Iowa’s Living Roadways Community Visioning Program received an Outstanding Planning Award for a Project/Program/Tool at a conference in San Antonio on Tuesday. The American Planning Association presented the award.

The group is being recognized for the program’s work with helping more than 100 of Iowa’s small towns create plans to improve the appearance of their roadways.

Projects include establishing aesthetically pleasing entrances to the town, as well as increasing the quality of non-motorized pathways, such as walking and biking trails.

Iowa’s Living Roadways Community Visioning Program was founded at Iowa State in 1996 by Julia Badenhope, associate professor of landscape architecture.

During the last decade, the program has continued to grow. The program selects 12 communities each year based on certain community criteria, such as a population of 10,000 or less or hindering transportation issues, and must pass an application process to receive program assistance.

According to Sandra Oberbroeckling, project manager at Iowa State for the Iowa’s Living Roadways Community Visioning Program, the program works with Trees Forever, a nonprofit organization, to help develop a conceptual design plan for the community. It brings in professional designers and landscape architects, as well as ISU student interns, to work with the community to decide what issues need to be addressed and to figure out how to improve them.

“The program works very hands-on, getting the community involved,” Oberbroeckling said. “This is not just someone coming in and saying ‘Do this and this and this.'”

Denise Clark, senior in landscape architecture, worked with the program in the community of State Center last summer. Clark worked on a team with a professional landscape architect and community members on projects that included the improvement of pedestrian bike trails and a main street entrance to the town.

“I am glad to hear that [the program] is getting the award. They are very deserving of it,” Clark said. “I hope his helps get the word out and helps get more students involved.”

Oberbroeckling agreed that the program is deserving, and said she hopes for continued success.

“We are going to keep doing what we are doing in the best way we can,” Oberbroeckling said.