Jason Colbeck - Street Design Portfolio

Urban Design & Mobility January 2024

Jason Colbeck

Contents 1.

About Me

3

2.

Experience

4

3.

Projects

6

3.1

Complete Streets: Canmore, Canada

6

3.2

Safe School Zones, Lünen, Germany

8

3.3

Commercial ‘woonerf’, Banff, Canada

10

3.4

Integrating Mobility Network & SuDS, Sheffield

11

3.5

Veloroute 7: Public Realm & Street Design

14

4.

Writing & Thought Leadership

16

5.

Other Technical Skills

18

5.1

3D Visualisation

18

5.2

Technical drawings

20

5.3

Sketching & illustration

20

5.4

Graphics & iconography

21

5.5

Community engagement & co-design

21

1.0 About me I am an experienced urbanist, passionate about planning and design of streets and public space to help create inclusive, happy and healthy environments and more liveable, successful and climate resilient places.

I have extensive experience in community engagement and codesign, working with local authorities, communities, and other stakeholders

to develop ideas and aspirations, and built lasting relationships. Through my knowledge of urban design and mobility in international and multidisciplinary organisations, I am an expert in developing ideas, solving problems and finding solutions to urban challenges.

Motivation designing streets and public space ranging from major arterial corridors in the US and Canada, to s mall scale school streets and rural cycle routes in Germany. Using a range of tools, including technical drawings, 3D visualisations and hand sketches, I communicate proposals in an engaging and accessible way, writing thoughtI will bring to the role, extensive pieces and sharing knowledge online. I experience in designing for cycling and delivered training programmes and walking and developing solutions to workshops. cities’ urban mobility challenges.

Following my master’s in urban planning I welcome with genuine excitement the and subsequent role at Dutch mobility opportunity to provide the support and consultancy, Mobycon, I was inspired by expertise stakeholder and decisionthe way active mobility and good urban makers need, and help to deliver design helps to create vibrant, catalytic change active and sustainable successful and liveable places. I mobility has the potential to make to continued to learn from and implement communities across the globe. Please Dutch and international knowledge and find, attached, my resume for your practice of street design. In this global consideration, as well as a sample of my environment I collaborated with work. partners across borders and time zones, I am passionate about working with communities and stakeholders and helping to create equitable streets and spaces that enable people to move through and enjoy their environments in a healthy and joyful way. I’m excited to share this passion with a team of likeminded people.

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2.0 Experience February 2019 – January 2021 January 2021 - Present

Urban Design & Mobility

Urban Design & Mobility Consultant

Consultant

Freelance

Mobycon, Delft, NL

• Planning and design expertise for active travel and

• Design lead for multiple projects across the

street design projects, including Surrey Street Design Guide.

• Street design lead for a design review for the planning for a major new urban settlement in Wisley, Surrey.

• Street design support for several Dutch municipalities incl. Amsterdam’s Binnenring project.

US, Canada, UK and Germany • Supported colleagues on Dutch projects incl. in Amsterdam, Haarlem and ‘sHertogenbosch • Presented at conferences & delivered workshops, both in-person and online

August 2021 – July 2023

August 2017 – December 2019

Communications Officer

Senior Urban Designer

Hogeschool van Amsterdam

Sustrans, UK

• Developing lasting relationships with alumni,

• Designed and delivered community engagement and

corporate partners and staff and student network • Marketing and communications

collaborative design programmes • Produced a cycling and walking network connectivity strategies and feasibility studies

• Budget management

• Led design projects from inception to completion

• Strategy development

• School street design programme working with school

• CRM management

children, parents and teachers to co-design their school environment

4

September 2014 – May 2015

Graduate urban Planning August 2015 – August 2017

Transport Coordinator

Consultant Barton Willmore, Leeds, UK

Leeds Beckett University

• Spatial and policy analysis

• Created the University’s Travel & Transport

• Organising and leading community

Strategy • Project management of all aspects of sustainable transport at the University, • Managed the Transport team and responsible

engagement events • Providing technical advice to clients based on planning policy • Communicating with a wide variety of

for the University’s sustainable Transport

stakeholders including local government

budget • Developed and implemented research

officers, statutory consultees and technical

project to inform land use planning strategies

consultants

May 2015 – August 2015

September 2011 – July 20142017

Internship: Mobility and Public Space

University of Manchester

Design

Master of Town and Country Planning

Mobycon, Delft, NL • Designed and delivered cycle inspiration tours for international delegates • Public space design for projects in Canada • Organised conferences and events

• Represented University in international design charette alongside students from Van Hall Larenstein & University of Sheffield • Erasmus exchange: City Planning at Middle East Technical University, Ankara, Turkey

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3.0 Projects 3.1

Complete Streets Railway Avenue, Canmore, Alberta, CA

Identified as part of an Integrated Transport Plan for the Town of Canmore, Alberta, Canada, Railway Avenue is an approximately 1.6km street connecting the town’s downtown commercial district with the strategic Trans-Canada Highway that passes through the town to the north-east. The aim of the project was to turn what is currently a typically North American suburban ‘stroad’ into a boulevard that better serves people accessing the businesses along it: reducing vehicle speeds, providing high quality space for people to walk and cycle along it, and improve its

connectivity with the wider network of cycle and pedestrian network. The project included the full redesign of the street, featuring Dutch design principles such as separated cycle tracks, protected intersections and improving traffic flow through narrowing vehicle space and providing more space for trees and greenery. A series of major intersections were completely redesigned, and the first ‘Dutch-style intersection in North America has now been build at the junction of Railway Avenue and Bow Valley Trail. See below.

My design for a protected intersection has now been built. See link.

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3.2

Safe School zones & bicycle network Lünen, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany

In Lünen, the municipality wished to transform the streets and spaces surrounding a primary school to create an environment that felt safe and comfortable for children, parents and staff. The school zone was in a poor state, with narrow footpaths and parking pressure contributing to inconsiderate and unsafe parking.

Furthermore, one of the streets formed part of a key cycling route that connected residential areas to the east with the city’s railway station. My design proposals sought to use Dutch residential and fietsstraat design principles to increase the space available for walking and cycling, with enhanced public space, measures to

Visualisation of improved residential street

slow vehicle speeds, improved crossing points and rationalized parking for existing residents. Different options were provided for the municipality and residents to choose from, including making one of the streets a fietsstraat.

8

3.3

Commercial ‘woonerf Bear Street, Banff, Alberta, CA

Bear Street is a lively commercial street in the mountain resort of Banff, Alberta, Canada. The street was dominated by vehicle traffic, with wide expanses of asphalt, street parking and access to parking garages making for an unpleasant environment in which to spend time. My design for the street transformed it into a series of pedestrian-first spaces,

’

where people can spend time and enjoy their environment whilst retaining access to parking courts and garages. Using similar techniques to a Dutch residential ‘woonerf, the whole street profile is available for pedestrians, with tightened geometry to slow vehicles, raised crossing points and space for local cafés to use as terraces.

10

3.4

Integrating mobility network & SuDS Grey to Green, Sheffield

The Grey to Green project in Sheffield is sought to improve space for cycling, despite being an important park of the the environment and climate resilience in a formerly

cycling network. In the second phase, the City Council

neglected part of the city centre that lies on a steep slope sought to improve on this by including a ‘Dutch style’ of the Don Valley. The important public transport corridor roundabout, linking the scheme to the existing network, was transformed by repurposing space for traffic with

however their plans suffered from some flaws.

bioswales and other water management techniques.

Commissioned by a local advocacy group, I submitted an

However the first phase of the scheme did not provide

alternative proposal using my knowledge and experience of Dutch best practice.

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Grey to green March 2021

12

Project Date

Original designs do not meet Dutch best practice guidance

13

3.5

Veloroute 7: Public relam and Street design Münster, Germany

Veloroute 7 is a proposed regional long-distance cycle route. It forms an important connection between the city of Münster, North RhineWestphalia, and suburban and rural communities of Hiltrup and Amelsbüren. The route currently comprises a mixture of street types, ranging from the major commercial corridor of Hammer Strasse in central Muenster, following residential streets and rural roads and forest paths.

I was the lead designer and sought to create a world-class cycle route that included the full redesign of the street along its 18km length. The design proposals reflect a Dutch approach to street design for a key cycle route and varies according to the local context. Some residential streets were re-designed as Dutch fietsstraten, with others requiring significant improvements to major intersections at key locations through the city. As the route enters the city centre, and the village centre of Amelsbüren, a high quality public space-led approach was included to reflect their civic importance.

A number of alignment and design options were provided to enable the municipality and local communities to get involved in the design and decision-making process.

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Different design typologies were used at different points along the 18km route, according to the local context, but a high-quality pedestrian and cycle experience was created throughout

4.0 Writing & thought leadership

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Please see the links for more information

Streets as places for people: Inspiration from Amsterdam June 2020

Healthy Streets and How the Dutch Build Them September 2019

5.0 Other 5.1

3D visualisations

18

19

5.2

Technical drawings

5.3 Sketching & illustration

20

5.4

Graphics & iconography

5.5

Community engagement & co-design

21

Thank you