‘We’re nearly there,’ Year-long Lougheed Highway construction project set to wrap this month

After 12 months of construction, there’s finally a green light at the end of the tunnel.

In May 2023, workers started jackhammering old concrete before pouring a fresh layer on the four-lane Scott Creek Bridge south of City Centre.

At the time, Coquitlam’s general manager of engineering and public works Jaime Boan explained “salt and time” had penetrated the 49-year-old bridge deck.

“To avoid damage penetrating down into the structure itself, we do need to replace it,” Boan said.

At the time, Boan predicted the project would be finished in five to six months.

Discussing the issue with Coquitlam council recently, Boan said the $2.4-million project should be complete by the end of May.

“We’re nearly there,” he said.

Throughout construction, the contractor has had to work through concrete supply issues, explained Coquitlam’s capital projects and inspections manager Chad Braley.

Once the final concrete pours for the multi-use path are cured, railings can be installed, Braley explained.

During the pours and railing installations, traffic has to be reduced to one lane heading northbound.

“We are disappointed with how long this project has taken but are optimistic that the contractor will complete the remaining work by the end of May,” Braley wrote in an email to the Dispatch.

Coun. Craig Hodge called the job: “A project that just seems to keep going.”

After describing a Monday morning traffic jam with cars backed up in both directions, Hodge questioned the construction schedule.

“Why can this work not be done not be done in the evening or, at the very least, on a Sunday morning . . . and not on a Monday morning?” he asked.

It’s especially difficult to get specialty concrete on Saturdays and Sundays. “It also costs considerably more,” Boan said, adding the contractor would need extra funding from the city.

The contractor should pay the extra cost, Hodge asserted.

“We can’t be closing that of Lougheed Highway during the day,” he said, noting it’s a route for the only ambulance station in the Tri-Cities.

The job was particularly challenging it was a major bridge rehabilitation, Boan said. While city staff do their best to avoid construction-caused traffic jams, there is sometimes no other option, Boan added.

“I can’t promise you that it will never happen again.”