Initial construction work to stabilize the hillside along parts of Columbia Parkway is now underway.
City Manager Patrick Duhaney said in a memo to Mayor John Cranley and council members the work will be done in several phases along about two miles of the parkway between Bains Street and east of Torrence Parkway in East Walnut Hills.
"The city's contractor, Canton-based Beaver Excavating Company, will begin the first phase from Kemper Lane to just east of Torrence," Duhaney wrote. "Beaver will clear a path that will allow its design consultant, Geotechnology Inc., to position drill rigs and other testing equipment to obtain soil samples at pre-determined locations on the upper parts of the hillside in this stretch of the parkway. This mobilization effort will require Beaver to build ramps and access points over the existing retaining wall and on the hillside."
The manager said the initial testing work will take several weeks, and actual construction on the stabilization will begin later this summer once designs are completed.
This same process will be repeated covering the other nine areas that need repairs to prevent future landslides onto the roadway.
The projects are expected to be fully completed in late 2020.
The projects will require lane closures on Columbia Parkway. The city says two westbound lanes will remain open between Torrence and Bains during morning rush hour. After that, inbound traffic will be restricted to one lane. All eastbound, or outbound, lanes are expected to remain open.
The city is spending $17 million to prevent landslides along Columbia Parkway, which in recent months have led to mudslides that have restricted, or even closed, the roadway multiple times.