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Pipeline work in Surrey starts soon, $500K trail network to come in Fraser Heights

‘The pathway will overlie portions of the new Trans Mountain pipeline right-of-way’
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Construction of the expanded Trans Mountain pipeline. (Photo: twitter.com/TransMtn)

Prep work to build the Surrey section of the expanded Trans Mountain pipeline begins this fall.

The Edmonton-to-Burnaby oil pipeline will be routed alongside South Fraser Perimeter Road in the Fraser Heights area, before crossing under the river north to Coquitlam, on a path just east of Port Mann Bridge.

The Surrey section of the “twinned” pipeline will be 11.5 kilometres in length.

News of the construction timeline is included in a Sept. 16 release about a “Community Benefit Agreement” that Trans Mountain, a federal Crown corporation, signed with the City of Surrey.

The pipeline builder will contribute $500,000 toward enhancing the local trail network in the Fraser Heights area of Surrey, as part of the corporation’s “commitment to ensure the expansion project benefits as many people as possible.”

Trans Mountain’s Community Benefit Agreements program is, according to the company, “in addition to local economic activity generated by construction, compensation to landowners and taxes paid to local governments, and is designed to support local initiatives for the benefit of the entire community.”

• RELATED STORY, from June: Trans Mountain pipeline restarts after light crude spills in Abbotsford.

CLICK HERE to see an interactive map of the pipeline route.

In Fraser Heights, the funding will help to build a future multi-use pathway planned by the City of Surrey for parkland areas.

“The pathway will overlie portions of the new Trans Mountain pipeline right-of-way for a total length of approximately 2.2 kilometres, and will be up to four metres wide,” notes the news release, posted to transmountain.com. “This enhancement will help to grow the local trail network and will be an important addition to the community.”

In 2013, former pipeline owner Kinder Morgan opted to bypass developed neighbourhoods of North Surrey, where its existing oil pipeline runs, in favour of a route for its twin along the Fraser River.

“While the route choice allows Trans Mountain pipeline planners to dodge possible conflict with hundreds of homeowners who live near the current line, it’s likely to mean sharper focus on the environmental risk of a rupture that could send heavy crude oil into the river,” according to a Surrey Leader news report at the time.

• READ MORE, from 2013: New pipeline to skirt Fraser River to dodge Surrey homes.

Trans Mountain values its 65-plus years of operating in Surrey, CEO and president Ian Anderson said in the release, “and we are proud of the direct and lasting legacy the Expansion Project will bring to the community.”

Trans Mountain pipes nearly 300,000 barrels of petroleum products each day through 1,150 kilometres of pipeline in Alberta and B.C., and 111 kilometres of pipeline in Washington state.

The expansion project involves 980 kilometres of new pipeline, new/modified facilities including pump stations and terminals, and a new dock complex at the Westridge Marine Terminal in Burnaby.

CLICK HERE to read more news about Trans Mountain pipeline.



tom.zillich@surreynowleader.com

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Tom Zillich

About the Author: Tom Zillich

I cover entertainment, sports and news stories for the Surrey Now-Leader, where I've worked for more than half of my 30-plus years in the newspaper business.
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