LEWISTON — Planning for the future of city streets is a long and ponderous affair.

You might as well make it as fun as possible.

An event titled Reimagining Our Streets in Lewiston Friday afternoon was an informational gathering that took on the spirit of a block party.

“‘Reimagining Our Streets is a public engagement event to get people to come out and talk about Lewiston streets and what could be done better for bikers and walkers and also drivers,” said Madeline Tripp, a GIS specialist with the GIS and landscape architecture group Viewshed. “But we also want people to come out and have a good time.”

Located on a section of Canal Street that was shut down to traffic, the Maine Department of Transporation event featured balloons, food truck, music pumping from tower speakers and a bounce house for the kids.

It was light and fun, no doubt, but the matter at hand was serious stuff. For one thing, the locals were asked to provide their priorities on the future of Lewiston streets.

Is it wider sidewalks the people want? Traffic calming, improved crosswalks, roundabouts or improved bike lanes?

Organizers will use the input from those surveys to help city leaders plan their next moves when it comes to street enhancements.

Information booths were set up everywhere. Electric bicycles, all the rage in Lewiston these days, were demonstrated for those unfamiliar with them.

The event was part of the Village Partnership Initiative, “a study aimed at identifying transportation and street improvement opportunities and solutions for Main Street, Sabattus Street, and Canal and Lisbon Streets.”

Lucy Gibson, a transportation engineer with Toole Design, was hired by the city to make recommendations for future planning of city streets.

“Making them safe for walking and biking is a really big theme,” she said.

Recent changes on Canal Street, with new bicycle lanes running along the regular traffic lanes, was one of their designs that is currently being tested.

In keeping with the theme of the event, Brooke Walsh, a program assistant with the Brunswick-based ArtVan Mobile Art Therapy, brought along gear that kids — or adults, for that matter — could use to make tiny vehicles straight out of their imaginations.

“We are here creating our own transportation vehicles,” Walsh said. “We have repurposed wood pieces, some markers and some tapes that you can use as the adhesive to attach your vehicle together.”

Event organizers began setting up at about 4 p.m. By 4:30 p.m., people were wandering in, either those who had heard about the event or those who were just curious about the hubub.

One man said he was drawn to the affair by the inflatable, waving arm mascot flapping in the wind over the Alabama BBQ van.

And for those who didn’t make it down to Canal Street, they can still have their say in the future of Lewiston streets through a survey at bit.ly/lewistonvpi.