City Council Memorandum
TO: HONORABLE MAYOR AND CITY COUNCIL DATE: MARCH 24, 2026 FROM: PUBLIC WORKS DEPARTMENT WARDS: 1
SUBJECT: AWARD BID NO. 8209 TO UNIVERSAL CONSTRUCTION AND ENGINEERING, INC. OF PALM DESERT, CALIFORNIA, FOR A CONSTRUCTION CONTRACT FOR THE RIVERSIDE CIVIL RIGHTS WALK PROJECT, IN THE AMOUNT OF $2,711,717.16, PLUS A 10% CONTINGENCY FOR THE ACTIVE TRANSPORTATION IMPROVEMENT PROJECT FOR A TOTAL AMOUNT OF $2,982,888.88 ISSUE:
Award Bid No. 8209 to Universal Construction and Engineering, Inc. of Palm Desert, California, for the construction of the Riverside Civil Rights Walk Project in the amount of $2,711,717.16, plus a 10% contingency, for the active transportation improvement project for a total amount of $2,982,888.88.
RECOMMENDATIONS:
That the City Council:
Award Bid No. 8209 for the construction of the Riverside Civil Rights Walk Project to Universal Construction and Engineering, Inc. of Palm Desert, California, in the amount of $2,711,717.16, plus a 10% contingency for the active transportation improvement project for a total amount of $2,982,888.88; and Authorize the City Manager, or designee, to execute the Construction Contract with Universal Construction and Engineering, Inc. including making minor and non-substantive changes, subject to the availability of budgeted funds.
BACKGROUND:
On June 7, 2022, the City Council authorized the Public Works Department to submit an Active Transportation Program (ATP) Cycle VI grant application to the California Department of Transportation in an amount up to $3,500,000 for improvements to connect points of historic interest in the Downtown and adjoining areas to create a Riverside Civil Rights Walk.
On June 21, 2022, the City Council approved Master Agreement Administering Agency-State Agreement No. 08-5058S21 allowing the City to continue to receive state funds for transportation projects. With the same action, City Council adopted Resolution No. 23870 designating the City Manager to execute the Master Agreement, Program Supplement Agreements, and/or any amendments thereto with Caltrans.
On December 13, 2022, the City Council accepted a grant award in the amount of $2,340,000 under the ATP Cycle VI program as administered by Southern California Association of Governments (SCAG) and Riverside County Transportation Commission (RCTC), leaving an $876,000 funding gap of the original $3,216,000 total project cost. City Council also authorized the City Manager, or designee, to execute all necessary documents in the process of applying for and securing funds under the Active Transportation Program Cycle VI.
On December 12, 2023, City Council authorized the Public Works Department to accept an additional $876,000 in grant funds (total project cost of $3,216,000) for the Civil Rights Walk project.
The City of Riverside has participated in the ATP grant program since its inception in 2014, seeking funding for important active transportation projects through the submission of multiple grant applications during the first five calls for projects. To date, the City has been successful in securing millions of dollars in federal and state grants for multiple projects under ATP Cycles I, II, III, and VI benefiting the City and its resident by constructing critical pedestrian and cyclist safety and mobility enhancements.
The proposed project will develop a themed active transportation loop named the “Riverside Civil Rights Walk.” Monuments, thermoplastic markings, like the Boston Freedom Trail, and wayfinding signs will guide pedestrians through a series of stops relating to Riverside’s rich history of Civil Rights achievements and occurrences of importance.
Each of the 24 sites on the walk will be highlighted with a three-sided monument sign. The monuments will include photographs and interpretive text serving to educate pedestrians on the sites’ historic significance. An accompanying website link will be provided on each monument to offer users the ability to read the content in alternative languages. An example of one of the monuments is provided in Figure 1 below.
Figure 1
The list of 24 monuments and description of each is listed in Table 1 below.
Table 1 – Monument Summary Table
No.
Monument Title
Description
1 Civil Rights Institute of Inland Southern California
The Civil Rights Institute is a community-centered exhibition space, archive, and resource center that educates visitors about civil rights, social justice, and civic engagement in Riverside and San Bernardino Counties through free exhibitions, events, and youth programming. 2 Eliza Tibbets
Eliza Tibbets was an activist for universal suffrage and also advocated for the rights of Black Americans. Tibbets introduced the Washington navel orange to Riverside. 3 WWII Japanese American Collection Site
This site is where the families of Japanese ancestry forced from their homes were ordered to assemble in Riverside during World War II. 4 Harada House
The Harada case was the first in the U.S. to test the constitutionality of exclusionary property and immigration laws, gaining significant national and international attention, and paving the way for other civil rights victories. 5 Julia Morgan
Julia Morgan, the first woman to be licensed as an architect in California, designed the 1929 building that has been the home of the Riverside Art Museum since 1966 6 The Cheech Marin Center for Chicano Art & Culture
After the Riverside Art Museum hosted an exhibition of Cheech’s works, it reached an agreement with the City of Riverside that resulted in The Cheech Marin Center for Chicano Art & Culture opening in 2022. 7 Pá’Čapa (Mount Rubidoux)
Mount Rubidoux was originally known as “Pá’Čapa” by the Cahuilla people. The Cahuilla village known as Spring Rancheria was vacated in the late 1890s due to settler encroachment, but descendants continue to maintain their relationship with this place. 8 Mahatma Gandhi
Mahatma Mohandas K. Gandhi (1869–1948) worked tirelessly for civil rights using nonviolent protest. Lalit Acharya’s (1951–2022) community-oriented work in Riverside included the nine-year process to install a Mahatma Gandhi monument on the Riverside Downtown Peace Walk. 9 Dosan Ahn Chang Ho
Dosan Ahn Chang Ho helped found the Korean National Association of North America, which met in Riverside in 1911. He led the Korean independence movement against Japan. 10 Las Adelitas
Outraged that Casa Blanca children had to walk over a mile to school, Ysabel Solorio Olvera circulated a petition demanding that the school board build a school for Casa Blanca’s children. They collected 80 signatures and on July 11, 1911, marched over four miles in the heat to downtown Riverside. 11 Haradas’ Washington Restaurant
Jukichi Harada operated the Washington Restaurant, patriotically-themed and serving traditional American fare, in downtown Riverside. The Harada family had no choice but to sell the restaurant in 1942 for $150, a severe loss, when they were forcibly removed to concentration camps. 12 César Chávez
César Chávez helped form the United Farm Workers to organize workers of all backgrounds to fight for fresh water, bathrooms, and fair wages. At the sculpture’s dedication, Paul Chávez, César’s son, said, “Riverside played an important role in who my father is and was.” 13 Martin Luther King, Jr.
The Riverside African American Historical Society undertook three projects in Riverside honoring civil rights leader Martin Luther King, Jr.: renaming Pennsylvania Avenue to Martin Luther King Blvd., naming a new high school for the leader, and in 1999 unveiled a sculpture to recognize Dr. King’s legacy. 14 Original Chinatown Site
In 1868, two years before Riverside was founded, Chinese immigrants came to the area to construct the Cornelius Jensen House. These early arrivals helped build Riverside’s infrastructure, including the Gage Canal that provided water from the Santa Ana River to the city. 15 Ysmael Villegas
Ysmael “Smiley” Villegas grew up in Riverside’s Casa Blanca neighborhood and was sent to fight in the Philippines during World War II. He died in action, becoming the first Congressional Medal of Honor recipient in Riverside County. 16 Riverside City Hall
Riverside City Court upheld the City’s refusal to place the AIDS Anti-Discrimination Ordinance 5599 on the 1991 ballot. The case was upheld by the California Supreme Court, a victory for Riverside's LGBTQ+ community. 17 Rise! Mural
When Riverside student Edison Rose experienced a painful racial encounter at school, her mother Rochelle Kanatzar shared this experience on social media. In response, educators Erin Maroufkhani and Shea Tracey, with support from the City of Riverside, collaborated with Rochelle on an artwork to show Edison that “Black Is Beautiful.” 18 Center for Social Justice & Civil Liberties
Miné Okubo Archive
Riverside artist Miné Okubo and other Japanese Americans were forcibly removed from their homes and incarcerated in camps. Okubo documented her daily life in over 2,000 drawings, many of which are exhibited at the Center for Social Justice and Civil Liberties. 19 U.S. District Court
The plaintiff in Log Cabin Republicans v. United States of America argued that the 1993 “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy, a rule requiring U.S. military personnel to keep their sexual orientation a secret, violated service members’ First and Fourteenth Amendment rights and was unconstitutional. On September 9, 2010, Judge Virginia Phillips, of the United States District Court in Riverside, decreed the rule unconstitutional. 20 Original Building for The Press Enterprise
The Press-Enterprise is the oldest running newspaper in Riverside. The Press-Enterprise won two U.S. Supreme Court cases that expanded the Press’s ability to report on active court cases. 21 Chinatown Historic Site
7-acres of land between Brockton and Pine, along Tequesquite Avenue became Chinatown's new location after displacement from downtown. As many as 3,000 Chinese workers lived in the community along Pine Street and contributed horticultural services until the 1930s. 22 Peace Tower
Riversiders banded together to fund and construct the Peace Tower, a monument dedicated to Frank Miller, one of Riverside’s most influential leaders. Frank Miller was committed to world peace and saw the Peace Tower as a symbol of his wish for better Japanese and American relationships. 23 Evergreen Memorial Historic Cemetery
Evergreen Memorial Historic Cemetery is an open-air museum where you can learn about many important people from Riverside’s past, including abolitionist John Wesley North and suffragette Eliza Tibbets. 24 Riverside Unified School District
On October 25, 1965, with a unanimous vote from the school board, Riverside Unified School District became the first large school district in the U.S. to desegregate without federal intervention.
Community Engagement
In addition to presenting the project to the City Council throughout the grant process, the City conducted a series of public outreach efforts to share progress of the project and solicit feedback from various stakeholders and residents. The steering committee was led by the Public Works Department, and was advised by the Museum of Riverside, Riverside Public Library, and Arts & Cultural Affairs. Stakeholders included, but were not limited to, the following: The Civil Rights Institute of Inland Southern California, The Center for Social Justice and Civil Liberties, the Fair Housing Council of Riverside County, Riverside Downtown Partnership, the Raincross Group, Downtown Area Neighborhood Alliance, Riverside Latino Network, Cultural Heritage Board, Blindness Support Services, and the Riverside Art Museum. Table 1 below depicts a list of meeting dates and locations with various stakeholder groups.
Table 1 – Public Outreach Summary Table
Date
Public Outreach Meeting
Location
10/30/2023
Stakeholder Meeting #1
Virtual
9/25/2024
Mayor's Multicultural Forum
City Hall
9/30/2024
APA Conference Walking Tour
Riverside Convention Center
2/12/2025
Stakeholder Meeting #2
Virtual
3/17/2025
Downtown Area Neighborhood Alliance (DANA)
Izaak Walton Building at Fairmount Park
5/14/2025
Town Hall / Public Meeting
Main Library
DISCUSSION:
On November 5, 2025, Bid No. 8209 for the construction of the Riverside Civil Rights Walk Project (Project) was posted on Planet Bids seeking prospective bidders to perform the following work in the downtown area: Construct monuments at points of historical interest, wayfinding signage, colored concrete path, thermoplastic wayfinding path, concrete sidewalk, concrete driveways, high visibility crosswalks, traffic signal timing modifications, traffic signal detection systems, flashing Light-Emitting Diode stop signs, rapid rectangular flashing beacon systems, accessible pedestrian signals, accessible ramps, truncated dome panels, and traffic striping.
Prior to bid opening, there were 643 vendors notified and 52 prospective bidders on the list. The City did not schedule a pre-bid job walk. Bid No. 8209 notification actions are summarized in Table 2:
Table 2 – Bidding Notification Summary Table
Action
Number of Vendors
City of Riverside Vendors Notified
643
Vendors Who Downloaded Bid No. 8209
52 Questions Received
3 Addenda Issued
1 Bids Received
3 On December 2, 2025, three (3) bids were received for the construction of the Project (Attachment 3). The lowest responsive and responsible bid was received from Universal Construction and Engineering, Inc, of Palm Desert, California, in the amount of $2,711,717.16, which is 3.47% below the original Engineer’s Estimate of $2,809,323.28 and outlined in Table 3.
Table 3 – Bid Summary
Bidder
Amount:
Ranking
Universal Construction and Engineering
$2,711,717.16
1 EBS General Engineering, Inc.
$2,998,358.10
2 Pavement Rehab Company
$3,619,000.00
3 Per Purchasing Resolution 24101, Article Five, Section 508 states, “Contracts procured through Formal Procurement shall be awarded by the Awarding Entity to the Lowest Responsive and Responsible Bidder.” The Purchasing Manager concurs that the recommended actions comply with Purchasing Resolution 24101, Section 508.
FISCAL IMPACT:
The total fiscal impact of the action is $2,982,888.88 which includes a ten percent 10% change order authority (COA) in the amount of $271,171.72. The ten percent (10%) COA allows the project to better absorb material and other cost overruns should anything arise related to inflation and/or tariffs. Should any additional cost overruns materialize additional budget is available in Measure A Fund, Planning and Investigations Project account 9520830-440313.
In addition, the estimated total construction cost including design engineering, construction, contingencies and contract administration is itemized in Table 4. No Council action is needed related to the $150,000 in design engineering expenditures.
Table 4 – Project Costs
Task
Amount
Construction Contract (Universal Construction and Engineering) $2,711,717.16
Construction Contingencies (10%)
$271,171.72
Subtotal (Total Fiscal Impact)
$2,982,888.88
Construction Engineering, Inspection, and Administration $150,000.00
Total
$3,132,888.88
Table 5 – Project Funding
Fund
Project
Account
Amount
Capital Outlay-Grant
Riverside Civil Rights Walk
9926600-440236
$3,216,000.00
Total Project Funding
$3,216,000.00
Prepared by: Philip Nitollama, City Traffic Engineer
Approved by: Nathan Mustafa, Interim Public Works Director Certified as to
availability of funds: Julie Nemes, Interim Finance Director Approved by: Kris Martinez, Assistant City Manager
Approved as to form: Rebecca McKee-Reimbold, Interim City Attorney Attachments:
Project Location Map
Bid Award Recommendation
Presentation
Bid 8209 – Contract Award ● Page 2