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Colin Harris, PE, LEED AP

Colin is a civil engineer and leader of Alta’s Minneapolis-St. Paul office. He is a graduate of Brown University with a BS in Civil Engineering. From high-level concepts to specific technical solutions, Colin has extensive experience developing safety improvements in a variety of contexts including school zones, urban arterials, and roadways in small towns. He also wields experience with truck, bus, and streetcar driving. Colin brings deep technical knowledge of design best practice as a professional engineer but has also worked to support innovation for bicycling and walking in the region as a local advocate. Colin lived and worked in Seattle and Bellingham, Washington before moving to Minneapolis in 2008.

In 2009, Colin co-founded the Minneapolis Bicycle Coalition (now Our Streets Minneapolis) and started the city’s first Open Streets initiative. After many months of planning and organizing, the first Open Streets Minneapolis event took place in 2011. Colin continued to lead the initiative through 2014 and grew it to six routes per year. Colin is also involved in multiple artistic endeavors. One of his projects, The Really Big Table, is a twenty-five foot long, foldable table with benches that can be transported by bicycle. Additionally, Colin is an active musician, playing traditional old-time music on fiddle and banjo.

“I am a Professional Engineer with experience planning and designing in the Upper Midwest and Pacific Northwest. I have a passion for Active Transportation, Complete Streets, and Safe Routes to School. You can find me biking throughout the Twin Cities with my daughter on my cargo bike.”
  • Registrations + Affiliations
    • Professional Engineer: Minnesota (#47347)
    • Professional Engineer: Washington (#44236)
    • Professional Engineer: North Dakota (#PE-27314)
    • Professional Engineer: Wisconsin (#46232-6)
    • Association of Pedestrian and Bicycle Professionals
    • LEED Accredited Professional
    • Minneapolis Bicycle Coalition (now Our Streets Minneapolis), Co-Founder and Former Board Member
  • Professional Highlights
    • Open Streets Minneapolis, Creator and former Manager
    • Featuring Inclusive Pedestrian Planning in Walk Audits and Demonstration Projects - 2022 APBP Conference
    • Planning for All Ages and Abilities Through Inclusive and Virtual Walk Audits - 2021 APBP Webinar
    • MnDOT Bicycle Facility Design Manual Webinar - May 2020
    • Let’s Try it Out! MnDOT’s New Guide to Active Transportation Demonstration Projects - 2019 Upper Midwest APA Conference
    • Designing the Rochester City Loop to Improve Community Health and Wellness - 2018 Upper Midwest APA Conference
    • Using a “Rapid Planning” Process to Build Stakeholder Engagement Around Safe Routes to School - 2018 Walk/Bike/Places Conference
    • Keynote Speaker - 2017 Iowa Safe Routes to School Conference
    • Rural Practices for Walk/Bike Safety - 2016 MN Toward Zero Deaths Conference
    • Building the Case for Street Design that Supports Health - 2016 International Open Streets Summit