Trans Mountain pipeline expected to wrap up around United Boulevard this fall; Woodfibre LNG pipeline to start work in 2024

One pipeline is almost done and another’s just getting started.

After more than two-and-a-half years of extensive construction around United Boulevard, the Trans Mountain expansion project is set to head down the road, according to a staff report recently presented to Coquitlam city council.

“Trans Mountain anticipates that the work in the United Boulevard area will be complete in late fall,” the report stated.

The work is set to include road repaving on Rogers Avenue and United Boulevard, provided the city gets good weather.

After three sinkholes were found around the Mary Hill Bypass, Port Moody-Coquitlam MP Bonita Zarrillo called for the pipeline project to be shut down and reassessed in early 2022.

A dip in United Boulevard was also spotted and fixed last June.

Woodfibre pipeline to pay for Crunch improvements

The FortisBC Eagle Mountain Woodfibre gas pipeline is now set to start construction in early 2024. The project was previously slated to begin building in mid-2022.

The project involves adding 47 kilometres of gas pipeline from Westwood Plateau to the planned Woodfibre LNG project outside Squamish.

The plan also involves building a three-kilometre section of 24-inch pipeline alongside the old natural gas pipeline. While the old pipeline is within the Coquitlam River Watershed, the new line is located outside the watershed in order to “minimize environmental impact,” according to a release from FortisBC.

FortisBC paid the municipality $3 million toward improving the Coquitlam Crunch Trail as a community benefit “and in recognition that the construction of the EGP project will cause some disturbance within Eagle Mountain Park as well as to nearby residents.”

The city is set to get that money once construction begins, city staff confirmed at a Sept. 25 council meeting.

Disturbances include tree clearing, increased traffic, construction and “generator-related noise,” as well as interruptions to trail access, according to a city staff report.

The plan also involves upgrading the Eagle Mountain compressor units from 20,500 horsepower to 26,000 horsepower. The change is expected to result in a “minor increase in noise,” according to FortisBC communications advisor Alex Munro.

A company spokesperson previously said the maximum volume of the compressors would rise from 41 to 43 decibels.

Also on the schedule for 2024, B.C. Hydro is planning to install 25-kilovolt distribution line from Como Lake Avenue south along Mariner Way and then east along Chilko Drive, ending around Riverview Crescent.