Wiscasset has scenic views better than international walkability expert Dan Burden has seen in all of North America.

Protect them and cherish them, Burden told about 30 people who joined him on a late-day, downtown walk March 11. Participants included merchants, town officials, Wiscasset High School students, and new and longtime residents.

The town won Burden's visit and a walkability audit, funded by the Midcoast Public Health District. The walk and small group work that followed will help Friends of Midcoast Maine prepare a report for the town.

Burden pointed out a lot of positives, from the waterfront views and historic buildings, to sidewalks wide enough for two people to walk side by side; however, he also noticed things that can get in pedestrians' way, like hedges right next to a sidewalk; or present other challenges, such as icy stretches of sidewalk on Main Street.

Burden calls those conditions “risky walking” and, in an interview, he said he saw a higher percentage of it than he usually does on the audits, even in towns about Wiscasset's size.

Walkability is about honoring pedestrians, he said.

Wiscasset's equipment for clearing sidewalks doesn't fit in some places, according to town officials. In a busy winter like this has been, there isn't the manpower to continuously shovel and treat those areas, Road Commissioner Doug Fowler said.

“It's important to note that we want to,” Fowler said.

Burden suggested several possible measures to help walkers and motorists, or improve the town's look. Among them, transition lanes behind Main Street's diagonal parking spaces would spare drivers from having to back directly into traffic.

Period-style lighting would be more attractive than the “cobra” lights downtown, he said.

Selectman Pam Dunning said she likes the period lighting in downtown Bath.

Burden also suggested kiosks and signs that give distances; small medians or islands that slow traffic and can add to eye appeal; and widening the lower sidewalk where an elevated one also exists on Main Street.

Ideas the small groups shared later included having people sponsor benches bearing their names or someone else's, in memoriam; a gazebo on the town common; and a walking or running path.

The high school students said they would have more to do in town if the improvements attracted more businesses. Their insights and offers to help with projects drew applause.

The report will include Burden's recommendations and those that the small groups came up with, Friends of Midcoast Maine executive director Jane Lafleur said. She expects to have it done by April 4.

Making some changes as soon as possible will start the town on a path toward making additional ones, Burden said.

Small towns often know what they're against doing, according to Burden; when they decide what they do want, they can accomplish a lot, he said.

“You will have naysayers ... (who) need to be brought in over time,” he said.

The conditions for Tuesday's walk were damp and cool. But Dunning found a sign that spring is on its way: magnolia buds on Main Street.