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The Bronze-level award was based on Oxford's progress in each of the League's "Five E" categories - engineering, education, encouragement, enforcement and evaluation/planning.
"Oxford has made a lot of progress in becoming more walk- and bike-friendly," said Kate Kellum, a member of the Pathways Commission, whose work is overseeing creation and expansion of the city's network of bike lanes, bike paths and sidewalks.
That work is being noticed on multiple fronts. Oxford also won an honorable mention last month from Chapel Hill, N.C.-based Walk Friendly Communities, which noted that "Oxford has clearly embraced the challenge of encouraging walking through numerous policies and plans - a unique accomplishment for a town of this size."
One of those is the Complete Streets policy, which calls for accommodating motorists, mass transit riders, bicyclists and pedestrians in every new street construction or overhaul.
Kellum said the effort to include other forms of transportation benefits even motorists.
"I think that everyone's commute is improved when people take to the streets on bikes and by foot," she said.
One of the Pathways Commission's most notable achievements was the conversion of part of the abandoned railroad right-of-way into a paved bike-and-pedestrian trail. Another portion of the former railway became Ford Boulevard, which has bike lanes and sidewalks.
Oxford's efforts to promote non-motorized transportation are ongoing. Bike lanes are currently under construction on South Lamar Boulevard to provide safer biking between residential neighborhoods and the medical community and the rest of the city.
"The Pathways Commission has much gratitude for the hard work and patience of the city staff and board over the years," Pathways Commission chairman Mike Mossing wrote to city officials. "The commission formed just before the first bike-friendly award in 2008. In the intervening years we have accomplished quite a lot as is evident from this award and the construction around town."
errol.castens@journalinc.com