Watters Trail South is scheduled to be open to residents at the end of May, Allen Trail System Planner Krishan Patel said.

The project kicked off in mid-October after Allen City Council approved the $1.1 million construction contract in September, according to city documents.

The details: The Watters Trail South extension will begin at The Montgomery Apartments at Watters Creek and end near the future Rowlett Trail. Funding for the project is split between two sources. The city received $140,000 from the Collin County Parks and Open Space funding assistance grant, and the remaining $960,000 comes from Allen’s Community Development Corp.

The context: The Watters Trail South extension will eventually connect to the Rowlett Trail, which is expected to begin construction this summer, Patel said.

Quote of note: “I can't wait for people to enjoy this,” Patel said. “It's going to be a nice experience.”

Fred’s Downtown Philly LLC Allen is open and serving customers following a temporary closure, staff at the location confirmed.

The gist: The eatery was closed for about three months, and underwent a remodel during that time. The restaurant offers a variety of cheesesteaks including a Philly cheesesteak, the cheesesteak hoagie, the mushroom cheesesteak and more.

• 717 S. Greenville Ave., Allen

Renovations at Texas Christian University’s Ed Landreth Hall and the Dallas-Fort Worth Airport’s Centurion Lounge are two of many new projects filed recently with the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation. Here are five of the most expensive permits filed with TDLR in the past week.

Texas Christian University Ed Landreth Hall renovations
Texas Christian University is renovating Ed Laundrette Hall with mechanical, electrical and plumbing upgrades; a new theater; audiovisual and technology upgrades; and acoustics, finishes and architectural updates.

American Express Centurion Lounge expansion at DFW Airport
American Express is renovating and expanding an existing lounge at the DFW Airport. The renovations will come with more seating, a new dining area and walk-up ice cream. 

Texas Health Dallas Hamon Tower renovations
Texas Health Resources is renovating the fifth floor of Hamon Tower in Dallas to include 30 medical-surgical beds and 30 intermediate beds.

Texas retailers can resume selling smokable hemp products after a Travis County judge temporarily blocked some of the state’s sweeping new regulations on the hemp industry.

The background: On March 31, the state health department enacted rules changing how THC content is measured in consumable hemp, which industry experts said effectively outlawed most smokable hemp products.

The Texas Hemp Business Council, a federal hemp industry group, and several local hemp companies sued the state April 8, arguing that the state health department does not have the authority to reclassify legal THC levels. State officials have defended the rules, saying they are in line with a September executive order by Gov. Greg Abbott, who at the time called for stricter oversight of the multibillion-dollar hemp industry.

The latest: Travis County District Judge Maya Guerra Gamble sided with the hemp industry in an April 10 ruling, directing the state not to enforce the new THC testing requirement and a restriction on the transportation of hemp products between states. An additional hearing is scheduled for April 23.