PORT COQUITLAM, BC – July 30, 2020… New playgrounds, roads, sidewalks and other capital improvements are continuing to roll out throughout Port Coquitlam – on time and under budget.

A mid-year update to Council Tuesday reported that the city’s ambitious 2020 capital program of upgrades to neighbourhood streets, utilities, traffic calming and other infrastructure is in full swing, with no significant impact so far from the pandemic. 

“This is great news for our community. I’m excited by the magnitude of work we’ve been able to accomplish in an extremely challenging year,” Mayor Brad West said. “We’re getting to the heart of neighbourhoods and delivering the real meat and potatoes of the City’s business. I’m proud of how we’re staying on course with meeting our commitments, and making our biggest-ever investment in the neighbourhood improvements our residents have been asking for.”

The city’s two-year budget model – which allows for project design one year and construction the next – has minimized costs and enabled on-time delivery amid a highly competitive industry.

The 2020 projects are the first half of the $52.7-million 2020-2021 capital plan that represents the city’s largest one-time investment to date in upgrades to neighbourhood infrastructure such as streets and utilities.

“These projects make a real difference in people’s lives every day. From the beginning of the pandemic we have recognized our capital program is essential, and have continued to pursue these projects while ensuring safety protocols are met,” said Cllr. Darrell Penner, Council’s designate for public works matters. “We thank our residents for how understanding and appreciative they have been as we’ve continued this important work.”

2020 Projects

Residents can find details of this year’s projects at www.portcoquitlam.ca/capitalprojects and view locations and status using the Capital Project layer in PoCoMap at www.portcoquitlam.ca/pocomap.

The city’s largest capital project continues to be the construction of the 205,000-square-foot Port Coquitlam Community Recreation Centre (PCCC), which began in 2017 and is scheduled to wrap up at the end of 2021.

Work continues on schedule for Phase 2 amenities such as a third arena with spectator seating for 780, a gymnasium, children’s area, more multi-purpose spaces, underground parking, a café, and landscaped outdoor plazas with seating, sport courts and a spray park. More information about the project construction can be found at www.portcoquitlam.ca/ccproject.

Another major focus is the neighbourhood rehabilitation program, including over 10 kilometres of road construction, lane paving, curbs, gutters and utility upgrades. A dozen projects at various stages of construction are projected to come in at $9.9 million – about $1.9 million under the original $11.8 million budget.

Sidewalk, pedestrian safety and traffic calming projects have also been moving forward, bringing improvements such as new sidewalks, curbing, gutters, lighting, raised sidewalks, flashing beacons and speed humps to 10 sites around the city, including Oxford Street, Kelly Avenue, Hastings Avenue, Broadway Street, Fremont Connector and Cedar Drive.   

Other completed work has included:

• Thompson Park – Two ball fields have been upgraded and a new irrigation system and outfield fencing installed,
• Settlers and Fortress Parks – Outdated play equipment has been replaced with new accessible and safety features,
• Automated irrigation management – The first phase has been completed of a multi-year project to use a weather station to turn off sports field irrigation systems when it rains,
• Lions Park Whimsical Garden – A non-traditional garden with accessible trails, naturalized plantings, garden follies and a public art piece are scheduled for completion by the end of 2020, and
• Barberry and Ellis Storm Pump Station – Upgrades to aging infrastructure are anticipated to be complete in August.

Design work has also begun for a number of projects planned for construction in 2021.

Projects next year will include the final year of LED streetlight replacement along with new streetlight locations, a new lane paving program, playground improvements at Chelsea, Elks, Imperial and Pinemont Parks, and a variety of neighbourhood infrastructure, school safety, pedestrian safety and traffic calming upgrades. 

In their report to Council, staff indicated that at the mid-point of the year, the 2020 $24.4 million capital program is projected to come in at about $6 million under budget. Most of the savings were achieved because anticipated rehabilitation or preparatory work was not needed for some projects. Any surplus funds will remain in the reserve accounts for future capital projects.

The report to Council also noted that progress continues on a number of one-time 2020 operating budget projects, including a fraud risk review, Pitt River weir assessment, sports field needs assessment, police services review and Official Community Plan updates. These projects are expected to come in at about $200,000 under the original $1.8 million budget.

Stay up to date on Port Coquitlam’s construction projects at www.portcoquitlam.ca/capitalprojects.

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MEDIA CONTACTS

Pardeep Purewal
Manager of Communications & Admin Services
City of Port Coquitlam
Tel 604.927.5335 Cel 604.218.0533
Email purewalp@portcoquitlam.ca