Several ongoing Austin transportation projects include the I-35 Capital Express Central rebuild, the MoKan Trail's Boggy Creek bridge, and corridor upgrades along Airport Boulevard and East 51st Street.

The update: The MLK Jr. Boulevard bridge over I-35 is now complete, with two lanes reopened in each direction and crews finishing shared-use paths this month. Nearby, the Lady Bird Lake segment remains years from completion, with the Texas Department of Transportation revising schematics as recently as Sept. 9 and closures still affecting Woodland Avenue and the Riverside Drive interchange.

Elsewhere, the MoKan Trail's final piece, a pedestrian bridge over Boggy Creek, is expected to wrap up by late 2026. Airport Boulevard's mobility project, funded by the 2016 bond, is nearing completion with new shared-use paths and signal upgrades between 45th and 55th streets.

What's next: Looking ahead, East 51st Street is finally moving toward construction after nearly 15 years, following a 90% design milestone this June. Planning continues for safety upgrades at Cesar Chavez Street and Red Bluff Road, though that project isn't expected to break ground until 2028.

Joshua Weissman, the Austin-based cooking YouTuber known for his channel "But Better," opened his first restaurant, Ben & Lynn's, on Sept. 12, as stated on the business's Instagram.

The restaurant is named for Weissman's parents, paying tribute to the people who sparked his love of cooking.

Craving chicken? Ben & Lynn's occupies a restored 1920s bungalow, and serves Texas-style fried chicken, per its website.

Ben & Lynn's menu includes the B&L Classic, a fried chicken sandwich with house-made dill pickles, and an option to add a dunk in the restaurant's sweet-and-spicy YamYum sauce for $1.95.

Other menu items include B&L Nuggets, fried chicken bites with a choice of house-made sauce; extra-crispy fries with sea salt; and seasonally rotating soft serve. Sauce options include B&L Sauce, ranch, YamYum and honey mustard. 

Before you go: The eatery is open 11:30 a.m.-midnight Monday through Thursday and Sunday, and 11:30 a.m.-2 a.m. Friday and Saturday, per its website.

A Kia dealership in Austin, a Walmart in Liberty Hill and an Olive Garden in Kyle are among the five most expensive projects filed with the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation in the Austin metro this week.

1. Kia of Central Austin ($36 million): A new 206,601-square-foot Kia dealership is set to begin construction in Austin next spring.

2. Walmart ($12.2 million): A new Walmart Supercenter is coming to Liberty Hill with construction set to begin in October.

3. Hill Country Bible Georgetown ($6.2 million): This project involves the construction of new admin and student ministry buildings at the Hill Country Bible Church in Georgetown.

4. Olive Garden ($4.1 million): A new Olive Garden restaurant is coming to Kyle, with construction set to wrap up late next year.

5. 3rd Wave Climbing Gym ($2.3 million): This project involves the renovation and change of occupancy of an existing warehouse building into an indoor climbing gym facility.

Travis County Commissioners Court approved Central Health's $1.015 billion fiscal year 2026-27 budget Sept. 15, including $127.5 million for crisis and recovery mental healthcare with $54 million in new investments.

The breakdown: New funding includes $33.1 million for 22 inpatient psychiatric beds and 10 psychiatric emergency department bays, $16 million for a new Mental Health Crisis Care Center, and smaller allocations for jail-based health support, an expanded crisis care team and medication access.

The budget also carries a tax rate of $0.132863 per $100 valuation, raising the median homeowner's bill by about $36 a year.

What's next: The new psychiatric beds could open within months, while the standalone crisis center is years away. Austin City Council is expected to receive a briefing on the related No Wrong Door initiative during its Oct. 6 work session.

Three candidates are running to lead the Texas General Land Office in the Nov. 3 election.

The overview: Democrat Benjamin Flores and Libertarian Neill Snider are challenging Republican incumbent Dawn Buckingham for the seat.

Buckingham ran uncontested in the March Republican primary, Community Impact reported, while Flores won the Democratic primary. Snider was selected as the Texas Libertarian Party's candidate during an April nominating convention.

The context: The state land commissioner manages 13 million acres of state lands, with duties such as allocating disaster recovery funds, leasing state lands to generate revenue for the Texas Permanent School Fund, preserving state landmarks such as The Alamo and overseeing several veterans programs.

Looking ahead: Early voting runs from Oct. 19-30 in the midterm election, and Election Day is Nov. 3.