San Francisco’s Castro District could get rainbow-colored crosswalks and an honor walk paying tribute to LGBT pioneers under a plan to make the neighborhood more pedestrian-friendly.

“The Castro is a very heavy pedestrian neighborhood but we have narrow sidewalks and it causes problems and we really need to improve it,” said Supervisor Scott Wiener, who represents the neighborhood.

At a community meeting last week, officials from the San Francisco Planning Department and the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency presented a draft street design that would widen the sidewalks on Castro Street between Market and 19th streets.

"The Castro is an international destination, in addition to a destination around the city and the Bay Area," Weiner said. "People come here for all sorts of reasons -- to go out, to shop, to meet their friends -- and we want to make it as welcoming as possible for people who are walking around."

Planners working on the Castro Street Design project are drawing inspiration from the neighborhood’s architectural history and gay heritage.

Designers are proposing rows of sidewalk trees, street lighting that includes celebratory rainbow colors and a mini-plaza in front of the location that was once Harvey Milk's camera store. A “Rainbow Honor Walk” would pay tribute to LGBT icons including Milk, Allen Ginsberg, Oscar Wilde, James Baldwin and Harry Hay.

The plan has support from merchants and residents. It would cost $4 million and is being funded with bond money approved by San Francisco voters in 2011 to repair city streets. If the project is approved by the city’s Municipal Transportation Agency’s board, construction could be completed by October 2014.