Sand Canyon Blvd to See Hundreds More Trash Trucks Per Day Without a Viable Long Term Plan
Irvine residents face a pivotal moment in the city’s waste management strategy as the City Council prepares to vote on Tuesday, June 24, 2025, on a crucial one-year extension to its Waste Disposal Agreement (WDA) with Orange County Waste & Recycling (OCWR). While the WDA provides the City more time to negotiate, uncertain still is the need for a viable long term plan to prevent hundreds of additional trash trucks on our neighborhood roads along Sand Canyon Blvd.
Waste Disposal Agreement
On Tuesday, June 24, 2025, the City Council will be asked to “approve and authorize the City Manager to sign the second Waste Disposal Agreement Amendment with Orange County Waste & Recycling (OCWR), along with any subsequent associated agreement(s) necessary to implement the Waste Disposal Agreement (WDA), Item 5.3, City Council Agenda.
Per the staff report, “the Orange County Board of Supervisors approved the one-year extension of the WDA on May 5, 2025, and County representatives have shared with Irvine that a decision is needed by the City on whether or not to enter into the one-year extension of the agreement no later than July 1, 2025, if Irvine wants guaranteed continued access to the County’s landfill system.”
The negative impacts of not having an active Waste Disposal Agreement (WDA) are clear:
With the loss of the Brea Olinda Alpha Landfill in the near future, what will this mean for Irvine’s Bowerman Landfill? What is Irvine’s long term plan?
Three County Landfills
The County currently operates three landfills. However, the Olinda Alpha Landfill in Brea is expected to reach its maximum height of 1,415 feet above mean sea level by mid-to-late 2026, requiring its closure. Once Olinda Alpha closes, the County plans to maximize its use of the Bowerman Landfill in Irvine, which is permitted to accept up to 11,500 tons of trash per day. The County currently processes an average of 8,000 tons of trash daily. That would result in approximately 700 trash trucks on Sand Canyon Blvd per day, an increase from ~500 trash trucks Irvine currently has per day.
New On- and Off-ramp from the 133 Toll Road to Bowerman Landfill
As a result, City Staff have been working on a long term solution of developing a direct on and off ramp from the 133 Toll Road to Bowerman. And the County has identified a plan to utilize Brea Olinda for another ~5 year period, giving Irvine time to design, permit, and construct a new on and off ramp. The process will involve Preliminary Design; Environmental Clearance; Design; Bidding; and Construction.
According to the presentation by City Manager Oliver Chi (presentation), “this new access point will provide a direct route for trucks to access Bowerman without driving on local City roads.”
Additionally, the presentation states that the City is the lead agency advancing the design and development of the new on- and off-ramp, and is currently in the preliminary design phase with Caltrans, and have a conceptual agreement with the Transportation Corridor Agencies (TCA). This is important because the new on-and off-ramp will be owned by Caltrans, and operated by TCA, and funded by the City’s Cooperative Agreement, which will be finalized with the County after the Waste Disposal Agreement (WDA) / WISE Agreement process is completed.
Information on the City Council Meeting can be found here. To participate in the meeting remotely:
Via Zoom:
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Meeting ID: 848 4853 1263
Passcode: 272906
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