By Scott Taylor,Staff Writer

The best way find out if the streets are friendly to bicyclists and pedestrians is to get out and walk them.

“That’s what we’re going to end up doing – walking the streets, looking at our sidewalks to see what we do right and what can be improved,” said Don Craig, director of the Androscoggin Transportation Resource Center.

Craig’s group is hosting the National Center for Bicycling and Walking for the week of Sept. 26 for a series of eight half-day workshops. Those should help local city and transportation officials figure out how walkable the Twin Cities are and how to make them better.

“There’s been a lot of development in both cities, so part of it is looking at if we’re doing what we need to do to make it walkable, safe and friendly,” Craig said. Sometimes it’s as simple as putting planters along a sidewalk to make it more attractive.

“You need to look at the streets and see if the crosswalks are in the right place, or if you need an island to help pedestrians cross a four-lane road,” Craig said.

Bob Chauncey, director of policy analysis for the national group, said the Twin Cities series is one of almost 40 the group has done in the past three years.

“This needs to stay a local effort,” Chauncey said. “We’re trying to help each community find out what they need to be doing.”

Each workshop begins with a presentation on walkable-city designs. It looks at national examples of what works and what doesn’t.

Then attendees go outside to walk the neighborhood.

“The idea is take what they’ve learned and apply it to what they see around them,” he said.

Finally, the group breaks up into smaller groups to talk about how the cities can improve.

The workshops are being sponsored by the transportation resource center, along with L/A Trails and the Maine Department of Transportation.

People interested in attending need to register with the Androscoggin Transportation Resource Center by Sept. 16. People may call 783-9186 for more information.

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