A portion of West River Parkway near the University of Minnesota closed more than a year ago by a mudslide could be open to traffic by the end of the year, the Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board said Thursday.

Warm and relatively dry weather this fall has allowed contractor Veit & Company to make additional progress on repairing the hillside that gave way on June 19, 2014.

Five walls are being put up. One near the U of M hospital and another near the parkway are the most critical to the stability of the slope and are the most challenging to construct, the park board said.

The contractor has begun pouring the concrete cap for the wall near the hospital. Earthwork below the cap and construction of the vertical face of the wall will follow.

The drilling of vertical footings for the wall near the parkway has also begun.

As a result, Veit & Company is on track to re-open the parkway and trails at the end of December.

Some construction items will remain for the 2016 construction season and will require an additional four to eight weeks of parkway closure in late spring and early summer.

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