Coquitlam quarry granted permission to expand

It’s a rocky road ahead near Pinecone Burke park.

More than two-and-a-half years after it was first pitched, the province has approved Heidelberg Materials’ plan dig an extra 500,000 tonnes of rock out of a Coquitlam-area quarry.

The international company based in Germany was formerly permitted to dig out 1,000,000 tonnes of quarried rock each year from the site between Pitt River and Pinecone Burke.

However, the 15-year permit from the Ministry of Mining and Critical Minerals allows the company to boost that threshold to 1,500,000 tonnes and expand the quarry area by 11.58 hectares into a forested area – much to the chagrin of at least one neighbour.

Speaking to Coquitlam council in 2023, neighbour Renato Spano predicted the expansion would take an “unsafe situation, and make it significantly worse,” explaining that Quarry Road is frequently the site of close-calls and near misses involving trucks and industrial equipment.

There have been no complaints about the expansion since the ministry granted approval in September 2025, according to Coquitlam engineering and public works division.

The city is set to do pavement work on the 2.3-kilometre stretch Quarry Road between the entrance to Minnekhada Park and McIntyre Creek. The project is set to start this summer.

Drainage work is also planned for Quarry Road between McIntyre Creek and Widgeon Marsh in 2027.