Construction of sections of the expanded Trans Mountain Pipeline are now underway in Langley, with work going on near Telegraph Trail east of Walnut Grove.
Trans Mountain’s current online map of its activities shows “active construction” of the new lengths of pipeline are underway from 199A Street west into Surrey along Golden Ears Way, near the Fraser River shoreline.
Running east from there, the pipeline follows a rail line and curves south to meet 96th Avenue east of 216th Street, cuts through the Redwoods Golf Course, and runs along parts of 88th Avenue and then Telegraph Trail before crossing Glover Road.
Although Trans Mountain’s maps show the Langley work along Telegraph Trail as “future construction,” a wooden corduroy road is already being built, and lengths of pipe are arriving in a field on the north side of the road.
READ ALSO: Mystery heirs still sought for Langley land standing in pipeline’s path
The controversial project will almost triple the amount of oil products shipped down a route from Northern Alberta to a refinery and terminal in Burnaby. The original route was built in the 1950s.
The new route takes some deviations from the original one, including in Langley, where development over the last 70 years means it’s impossible or extremely expensive to follow the same path for the expanded pipeline.
It has been opposed since it was first planned by environmentalists, who don’t want to see an increase in oil production and also raised fears about spills due to a significant increase in expected tanker traffic from the Burnaby terminal.
However, the federal government bought the project when private financing faltered, turning Trans Mountain into a Crown corporation.
Earlier this year, it was revealed that the price tag of the project has shot up from $12.6 billion to $21.4 billion.
READ MORE: Cost of Trans Mountain Pipeline expansion soars 70% to $21.4 billion
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