The Gage Canal Trail Has Its Contractor. What Still Stands Before Construction?

In July, the Riverside City Council awarded a $4.3 million contract to build the first two miles of the Gage Canal Trail. Days later, the Press-Enterprise reported that construction was slated to begin this fall and wrap up in summer 2027. As of mid-October 2026, the city's own Parks page lists the project only as "Gage Canal Trail – coming in 2027," with no season or start date.

The trail is no longer short on money or a builder. It still needs a round of field work, though: wildlife surveys, tribal coordination, and environmental monitoring, all of which the city formally added to the project in September. If you live near Palmyrita, Spruce, or Blaine and have been watching the canal road for equipment, that list tells you more than any announced date has.

What Phase 1 Will Actually Be

The first phase covers about two miles of the canal corridor. It starts at Palmyrita Avenue, runs southwest along the edge of the Box Springs Mountain Reserve, crosses Spruce Street, and ends at Blaine Street by the UC Riverside campus. The city describes it as a Class I asphalt bike path with a natural-surface trail beside it, built inside a water utility easement the city already owns.

The plans go well beyond a paved strip:

• A paved bikeway next to a decomposed granite path for walkers and runners
• About 600 native trees, according to the Press-Enterprise
• Solar lighting aimed at the trail so it stays lit at night
• Entry plazas, trailside seating, and bike racks
• Fitness equipment, drinking fountains, and interpretive signs

The Raincross Gazette reported that the city expects the finished trail to need about $75,000 a year in maintenance, to be requested in future budgets. No second phase has been decided.

Seven Years of Getting to a Contract

The council's September 1, 2026 memo lays out the project's history in order. Read top to bottom, it shows that each earlier delay was about money and paperwork.

1. October 1, 2019: Council authorizes an application for a $3,708,509 Urban Greening grant from the California Natural Resources Agency.
2. April 1, 2020: The city signs the grant agreement.
3. December 14, 2021: Alta Planning + Design is hired for planning and design.
4. January 31, 2023: The state awards an additional $1.4 million in Recreational Trails Program funding.
5. March 14, 2023: Council rejects every construction bid because they came in too high, and directs staff to rebid once the new grant money is available.
6. February 26, 2024: Council expands the design contract so the consultant can complete environmental studies the state requires before it releases the $1.4 million.
7. April 3, 2026: The city signs the Recreational Trails Program grant agreement.
8. July 14, 2026: Council awards the construction bid to H L Hitchcock Construction Inc. of Rancho Cucamonga for $4,304,325.

The Raincross Gazette reported that construction is funded by state grants plus Measure Z and Measure A money, and that the council also approved a 10% contingency, bringing total contract authority to about $4.73 million. By the end of July, both the funding gap and the bidding problem behind the 2023 stall were resolved.

What the September Memo Adds Before Construction

That brings us to the September memo itself. Its main business is a fourth amendment to the Alta Planning + Design contract. The amendment adds $134,172.77 in compensation and extends the consultant's term by a year, through December 31, 2027. It does not include a construction schedule.

The new scope is specific. The memo lists:

tribal coordination assistance; pre-construction biological clearance surveys for Crotch's Bumble Bee, Burrowing Owl, nesting birds, and bat habitat assessment and emergence surveys; Water Evaluation and Adaptation Planning (WEAP) and cultural sensitivity training; biological construction monitoring; and overall project management support.

According to the memo, this work is required by California State Parks for the $1.4 million supplemental grant. The clearance surveys, by their own label, come before construction. The corridor runs along the edge of Box Springs Mountain Reserve, open hillside next to the canal, and that is the ground these surveys cover.

The city has not tied these surveys to any timeline, and the other public signals are thin. The Raincross Gazette reported in July that staff had not specified a construction start date. The Public Works construction projects list, last updated October 1, 2026, does not include the trail among its current or planned projects. We found no groundbreaking notice, closure, or detour for the corridor.

Here is where things stand as of October 11, 2026. The trail is funded and under contract. The consultant who will survey the site and monitor construction is under contract through the end of 2027. We found no sign that ground has broken. The city hasn't confirmed the Press-Enterprise's July forecast of a fall start and a summer 2027 finish, and the Parks page commits only to the year.

What Is Officially Open Nearby Right Now

Plenty of people already walk the canal. Riverside Public Works calls the access road alongside the Gage Canal an unpaved, unofficial path that pedestrians and cyclists use, and notes that it is not a Class I bike path. In 2023, the Press-Enterprise reported that sections of the utility easement had gates and no-trespassing signs, and that the public was not supposed to use them.

The sanctioned trails along this same stretch belong to the county. Box Springs Mountain Reserve is at 9699 Box Springs Mountain Road, with day-use parking at Upper Box Springs and Hidden Springs. Both lots are listed as open daily from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. The county's 2026 trail map names the following routes:

The map also labels nearby streets, including West Blaine Street, West Big Springs Road, Watkins Drive, and Hidden Springs Drive. Blaine Street is also where the canal trail will end, so once Phase 1 opens, the reserve's Blaine trail and the new canal trail will both lead to the same edge of the UCR campus.

For riding on pavement today, Public Works names two official off-street bike paths in the city, the Santa Ana River Trail and Victoria Avenue. Victoria has separate bicycle and equestrian paths, with on-street bike lanes running alongside much of the route. Neither of these is near the north end of the canal. That gap is the one Phase 1 is meant to close.

Thirteen Miles, Built for Citrus

Citrus pioneer Matthew Gage built the canal in the late 1800s. The Raincross Gazette called it one of Riverside's defining pieces of infrastructure, and the plan is to turn parts of the corridor into a trail while the canal keeps running. The Press-Enterprise puts the waterway at about 13 miles through the city. Official canal trail sections already lead south toward California Citrus State Historic Park at 9400 Dufferin Avenue, with informal paths elsewhere along the route.

Phase 1 adds two of those 13 miles. It also gives the north end of the canal what the south end already has, an official trail in place of informal paths. The next public milestones are a construction start notice and the trail showing up on the Public Works project list. Until then, the 7 a.m. gate at Upper Box Springs is the nearest official place to walk.

If you live near the canal corridor and want to know how a trail like this could affect your street or your home's value, Jacqueline Johnson follows these north Riverside projects closely and is glad to talk them through with you. Schedule a free consultation, and she'll keep you posted as the city releases the Gage Canal Trail schedule.