Stoney Creek sewer to get upgrade; Coquitlam traffic to be impacted

After years of planning, the shovels are set to hit the ground this week as Metro Vancouver gets started on the Stoney Creek sewer upgrade.

The new three-kilometre pipe is designed prevent sewage from overwhelming the current system and to protect Stoney Creek, which is home to fish species including Nooksack Dace.

Metro Vancouver previously approved a $12.25 million budget for the project, which is set to be built by digging trenches and installing pipe within the roadway.

Work is scheduled to start Monday at Chapman Avenue, potentially snarling traffic in the area.

Besides lane closures, the job might result in parking and sidewalk restriction as well as temporary driveway restrictions, according to Metro Vancouver. Work is generally set to take place between 7 a.m. and 8 p.m. during the week and from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Saturdays.

A community liaison is set to be in place to address any questions or concerns

After three to four months, the job is slated to shift to Gilroy Crescent before hitting North Road toward Burnaby. Work on the Burnaby section is scheduled to start later this year with the entire project tentatively slated for completion in 2029.

Residents can email project questions about the project to icentre@metrovancouver.org with the subject line “Stoney Creek Sewer Upgrade – Coquitlam Section.”

Recent salmon returns in Stoney Creek were disappointing, according to streamkeeper George Kovacic.

Kovacic attributed the drop in returns to the deteriorating health of the waterway.

“As soon as it comes out the Rathburn Culvert, everything turns black and full of sediment, so it’s killing off everything,” Kovacic said. “The fines are only $500 and they really don’t care.”

Coquitlam has previously lobbied the province for the authority to fine construction companies as much as $3,000.

The municipality also requires real-time water monitoring at all major development sites. However, those measures don’t seem to have helped Stoney Creek, Kovacic said.

In the summer of 2024, a contractor doing excavation work sent dirty runoff from their site into a catch basin. The spill ended up in Stoney Creek and turned a portion of the water slate grey.

There was no indication of any harm to wildlife, according to Coquitlam’s environmental manager.

The old pipe

Sewage along the Stoney Creek route used to be handled by a clay pipe that was likely responsible for a “fair amount of leakage,” explained Coquitlam’s general manager of engineering and public works Jaime Boan in 2022.