A sinkhole on Como Lake Avenue caused by FortisBC construction is reopening a contentious dispute between the utility provider and the city of Coquitlam.
In a testy Facebook post, Mayor Richard Stewart blasted the company for causing traffic delays after "localized settlement" shutdown all westbound traffic between Blue Mountain and Robinson streets.
"This unintended closure presents enormous challenges for residents, particularly as there are two elementary schools and a middle school along this corridor," he wrote.
He added that repairing the work is complicated by the fact there are numerous utilities already underground, including FortisBC's old natural gas line that the company is currently trying to replace.
The road closures are expected to last until the weekend.
Stewart said that this week's incident is not the first time FortisBC has had sinkhole trouble in Coquitlam. He said similar work in 2017 led to the collapse of a four-lane arterial road, resulting in several spills of drill slurry into local creeks.
In March, FortisBC began upgrading its 5.5 km pipeline underneath Como Lake Avenue as part of a larger 20-km project that began in Vancouver. Construction crews have been making their way through Burnaby along the Lougheed Highway over the last year.
The dispute between the city and FortisBC over the natural gas pipeline replacement project has raged for close to a year.
The company has agreed to give Coquitlam $300,000 in community amenity contributions but that is not enough, according to the city.
Staff have asked FortisBC to completely repave Como Lake when it has completed its work and remove the old 20-inch pipe when the new 30-inch pipe is installed, which the company said would cost $77.5 million.
Instead, Fortis intends to fill the old pipe with concrete and leave it in place, which the city said will increase maintenance costs every time utility work needs to be done under the road.
The dispute went to the BC Utilities Commission, which ruled against the city of Coquitlam, allowing FortisBC to go ahead with their work. The city has said they may challenge the issue in court.
"Obviously, the mandate of BCUC needs to be adjusted," Stewart wrote. "But in the meantime, this city street, owned by the taxpayers of Coquitlam, has been closed by a private company, as they've done before."
Alex Munro, a spokesperson for FortisBC, told The Tri-City News that the hole was approximately 5 m in diameter and had sunk about 20 cm. He added that the closure of the lanes was a precaution and the company would update residents as soon as possible.
Incidents of holes forming is not uncommon when conducting this kind of gas line replacement work, he said.
"This can happen during deeper excavations for projects such as this with underground utilities nearby," he said. "That’s why we have a rigorous safety monitoring program and operating policies in place to maintain safety for the public and our crews, and enable us to quickly respond to events such as this."
gmckenna@tricitynews.com
@gmckennaTC
