The quick completion of Evergreen Line work over the long weekend means that crews will not have to shut down a section of the Barnet Highway again this weekend.
Between Friday night and Tuesday morning, crews worked to push a concrete structure into position under the Ioco Bridge. That structure will eventually contain a portion of a station platform and guideway.
Had the work not been completed over the Remembrance Day weekend, a second closure of the Barnet Highway between Dewdney Trunk and Ioco Road would have been necessary.
Still, temporary lane closures will continue on North Road between Clarke Road and Smith Avenue starting this week and continuing for 14 days as crews work to relocate utilities along North Road. The work will take place Monday to Saturday from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m., and motorists are advised to use caution when traveling through the area.
Tree and brush removal is also taking place on the east side of the Coquitlam Centre mall parking lot next Pinetree Way, where an Evergreen Line station will be located; the work began Monday and will continue intermittently for the next three weeks.
TUNNEL DIGGER MAKING ITS WAY TO THE TRI-CITIES
A massive machine that will bore a tunnel for the Evergreen Line is on its way to the Tri-Cities.
The machine is part of a 1,100-tonne package of equipment coming to the region by rail from the manufacturer in Ontario.
A tunnel is needed for a 2 km stretch that will run west of Barnet Highway in Port Moody to the south of Kemsley Avenue in Coquitlam. According to the B.C. Ministry of Transportation, a bored tunnel means there will be no disruption to the surface area above except at the tunnel entry and exit points.
The equipment will be shipped in pieces from Ontario and assembled at a launch site on the west side of Barnet Highway in Port Moody. Assembly will take a couple of months and tunnel construction is expected to begin in February 2014.
The boring machine is 85 m long and 10 m in diameter, and the cutter head alone weighs 130 tonnes.
The Evergreen Line is expected to be completed in 2016.
"TransLink is very excited to see construction of the Evergreen Line progressing," TransLink chief executive officer Ian Jarvis said in a press release. "Transit use in Metro Vancouver continues to surpass yearly records."
