The City Island Bridge contract has been officially awarded to Tutor Perini Corporation by NYC DOT. They were the low bidder for the $102.7 million replacement of the City Island Road Bridge over Eastchester Bay.

This long awaited and controversial project includes the construction and removal of a temporary bridge and approach roadways, demolition of the existing bridge structures, construction of a single steel tower cable-stayed bridge with private utilities, reconstruction of approach roadways, and the rehabilitation of City Island Esplanade and Pelham Bay Park with landscape improvements.

Business owners as well as community leaders are in agreement that the bridge needs serious repair, but disagree on the decision New York officials have made concerning their bridge project. The City Island Bridge is the only way in and out of the island.

The new bridge will be the first cable-stayed bridge built in the State of New York. Prep work has already started, with substantial completion expected by the end of 2016.

Although Tutor Perini Corporation has not yet started any on-site work on the project, groundbreaking is expected to begin within the next six months. The contract has been awarded by NYC DOT and the NYC Comptrollers Office is now expected to register the project.

The current City Island bridge is a low-rise 20-foot-tall bridge over Eastchester Bay connecting City Island with the Bronx mainland. It was built in 1901 and rehabilitated in 1977. The bridge is expected to cost $150 million, with Federal funding on the project covering $100 million.

The Replacement of the City Island Road Bridge covers both the demolition of the existing bridge and the construction of both a temporary bridge and the new single tower asymmetrical steel cable-stayed replacement bridge.

The temporary bridge will be constructed next to the current bridge from Pelham Bay Park to City Island Avenue and the new span will be built where the existing City Island Bridge now sits.

Construction is set to begin within the next six months and is scheduled for completion sometime in 2016.

The brakes were disabled before train exploded in Lac-Megantic, Canada according to railway chief.

A total of 72 tanker cars carrying crude oil jumped the track, setting off a huge fireball.

At least 40 people are missing. Officials in the town 130 miles east of Montreal say some victims were likely vaporized by the intense blaze, which burned for 36 hours after the crash.

The driver-less train barreled into a small Quebec town and derailed, causing a deadly inferno and claiming 13 lives.

As of July 12, all trips must be quoted by the minute, and such per minute pricing includes all passengers and there can be no per person charge.

Also a stopwatch must be available and turned on for each trip. Each trip must be begin with the driver explaining to the passengers what the per minute charge will be, and the stopwatch must be visible to passengers on board.

This will begin to address the problem of drivers charging by the block, by the avenue, by the person, by the whatever whimsical criterion they were using, and pricing will be more transparent, going forward.

HOT, Hot, hot temperatures in the 90s for a third day in a row, making it the city's second heat wave of this summer season, as cooling centers are still open in the five boroughs.

An excessive heat warning is effective in the city through 8 p.m., as temperatures are expected to reach 94 degrees and the humidity will make it feel closer to 100 degrees.

All New Yorkers should drink plenty of water and other liquids and avoid outdoor activities.

To find a cooling center, call 311.
www.nyc.gov/oem.