Redondo Beach Approves $34,758 Study Of Garbage Truck Impact On Roads

REDONDO BEACH, CA — Redondo Beach will spend $34,758 to determine how much wear garbage trucks and street sweepers cause to city roads, under a consulting agreement unanimously approved by the City Council on Tuesday.

The study will examine how residential and commercial waste collection vehicles contribute to pavement deterioration and calculate their share of the city's annual street maintenance costs, providing a clearer picture of the financial impact of keeping Redondo Beach's roads in good condition.

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Councilmembers approved the agreement with HF&H Consultants, LLC, as part of the Nov. 3 consent calendar, which passed unanimously without discussion. The analysis will cover garbage, recycling and organic waste collection trucks, along with street sweepers, comparing their impact with that of passenger cars and other commercial vehicles, according to the agreement and accompanying council documents,

The consultant will work with city officials and Athens Services, Redondo Beach's exclusive waste collection contractor, to gather information about vehicle weights, axle configurations, collection schedules and the frequency with which trucks travel city streets. That information will be combined with pavement condition assessments, traffic data and maintenance expenditures to estimate the annual cost of road wear associated with waste collection and street sweeping.

The analysis will distinguish between residential streets, collector roads and major thoroughfares, which are designed to withstand different levels of traffic and vehicle weight. It will also consider maintenance, rehabilitation and reconstruction costs. The agreement does not suggest that garbage trucks are responsible for unusually severe road damage. Rather, the study is intended to establish how much of the city's overall pavement deterioration can be attributed to those vehicles.

HF&H is scheduled to deliver a draft report by March 15, 2027, with the final report due April 15. The findings must include the calculations, methodology, assumptions and limitations of the analysis, although the consultant's underlying pavement deterioration model will remain proprietary and will not be publicly available.

If the city or Athens Services cannot supply all the necessary information, HF&H may use data from comparable projects or other industry sources, with assumptions reviewed by city staff. The fixed-fee agreement runs through Nov. 2, 2027, with half the payment due following the draft report and the remainder following completion of the final report.

The contract was listed as item H.5 on the Nov. 3 City Council agenda. All 18 consent calendar items were approved unanimously, with none pulled for separate consideration.