Gardena Council awards engineering design contracts for $4 million in street work

The Gardena City Council on March 24 unanimously approved two engineering design contracts to advance street-repair work across the city.

The council awarded a design contract to DMS Consultants Inc. for the Local Streets Improvement program (job numbers 553 and 571) for $147,460 and approved a 10% contingency of $15,000 and a budget transfer of $1,130,000 from SB1 gas tax funds, City staff said. Separately, the council awarded a design contract to Cannon Corporation for the Western Avenue Street Improvement Project (Redondo Beach Boulevard to Rosecrans Avenue, job number 556) for $154,927 and approved a 10% contingency ($16,000).

City staff said the local-streets program is part of Gardena’s Pavement Management Program and will focus on maintenance zones five and six; overall construction costs for the package were estimated at approximately $4 million and will be funded through a combination of SB1 gas tax savings, Prop C, Measure M and prior local-streets savings. The Western Avenue project funding was identified in the FY 2025–26 budget (Prop C $900,000; Measure M local $650,000), staff said.

Councilmember Francis asked whether it would be more efficient to use a single firm for multiple projects; staff explained firms choose which RFPs to bid and selection is based on proposals received, past experience and cost. Councilmembers also asked about phasing and coordination with other construction work in the city; staff said they will phase bids and construction to avoid conflicts with major sewer projects and other scheduled work.

Both design phases will produce plans, specifications and cost estimates; staff estimated DMS’s final design would take about eight months and Cannon’s about six months, after which the projects will be advertised for construction bids.

The motions to award the contracts passed unanimously (Cerda, Henderson, Tanaka, Francis, Love).