AUBURN — More than 50 people gathered Thursday to sort through dozens of Androscoggin River-related ideas, from zip lines that might zing tourists over the Great Falls to pathways, portages and signs aimed at creating a river-going network.

In the end, folks decided that Lewiston-Auburn needs more places for people to walk or bicycle along the river’s banks. The river must be seen and touched, whether it’s a vista from a park bench or the direct contact that comes from paddling in a canoe.

“To my mind, it’s all part of the same thing,” Doug Boyd, a Lewiston member of the Androscoggin Land Trust, said. “We’re trying to create access to the river.”

The session was part of a series of meetings aimed at focusing attention on the river and how the local community might encourage its use. Last fall, people met five times to walk the riverside parks and examine the way the cities interact with the river.

It led to a five-page list of possible improvements, from widening the paths at West Pitch Park in Auburn to adding bike lanes on Longley Bridge and building a bridge across the Little Androscoggin River to connect a pair of trails.

The money for some changes may soon be available.

A new federal report highlighted the Androscoggin area as one of seven natural corridors in New England that needs and deserves help. Last week, the report’s author, Richard Barringer, said the Androscoggin might be a beneficiary of federal money.

However, the communities along the river will have to create clear plans for improvement.

Comments at Thursday’s meeting will be used to help create priorities for river-related improvements, said Jonathan LaBonte, the Androscoggin Land Trust’s executive director. Another meeting will be held this spring to go over a draft of those priorities.

Meanwhile, the city of Lewiston is continuing work on a master plan that is focused on the river’s relationship to the downtown.

“There is an opportunity to kick-start and drive much more aggressively this image of a greenway,” said LaBonte, who also serves as Auburn’s mayor.

At Thursday’s meeting, people broke up into groups of fewer than a dozen to haggle through individual ideas.

Camille Parrish of Auburn attended with the hope of stressing access for walkers and bicyclists.

“A lot more people have bikes than boats,” she said. She also lamented the limited boat access along the river.

Smaller craft have more places to get in and out, but those spots can be hidden from the casual canoeist or kayaker. Few signs lead people to put-ins or take-outs and parking can be a problem.

“There’s not a comprehensive place, like a website or a map that you can get to, that will give you all that information,” Wendy Tardif of Auburn said.

Information — rather than bridges and trails — is inexpensive and quick to spread, attendees said.

“It’s really exciting,” Tardif said. “There are some ways to get onto the river. You’re already there, but you just don’t know how to get to it.”

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