Concrete panel replacement is continuing along Virginia Parkway and design is underway for realigning East Virginia Street. Here are five updates on current or planned transportation projects in McKinney.

1. East Virginia Street improvements
Project: Reconstruction of East Virginia Street will occur between Murray Street and Airport Drive. The project will include a new alignment and connection to Airport Drive and a new roundabout at the intersection of Virginia Street and Lively Hill Lane. The project includes waterline, sanitary sewer, storm sewer, illumination, hardscape and landscape improvements.
Update: Design work is 90% complete. Franchise utility coordination and right-of-way acquisitions are underway. The project is expected to bid in early 2027.

• Timeline: Early 2027-early 2029
• Cost: $15 million
• Funding source: city of McKinney

Development firm VanTrust Real Estate is breaking ground on a new industrial park in McKinney that could include 762,000 square feet of space.

What’s happening: Officials and community leaders held a groundbreaking ceremony in August for 121 Commerce Park’s first phase, which will include more than 512,000 square feet of Class A industrial space across two buildings, according to a company news release. VanTrust officials expect the project’s first phase to finish construction in the second quarter of 2027, according to the news release.

Quote of note: Max Mueller, senior director of development at VanTrust, said in a statement that they were excited to bring the project to McKinney.

“This project delivers the kind of flexible industrial space businesses are looking for while also investing in the community through improvements like the Collin McKinney Parkway extension and a new bike trail connection to the Cottonwood Creek Trail,” Mueller said.

Dallas Fort Worth International Airport officials are buying a hotel located at the airport, while Prosper officials postponed consideration of a proposed data center. Check out six trending stories from Community Impact’s Dallas-Fort Worth coverage areas.

1. Dallas Fort Worth International Airport buys hotel for $193 million
2. Prosper postpones consideration of possible data center
3. Frisco ISD approves e-scooter ban for student commutes
4. Frisco eyes 3.7% tax rate increase for fiscal year 2026-27
5. McKinney council approves SUP for QuikTrip gas station on US 380
6. McKinney officials propose $880M budget, increased tax rate for FY 2026-27

Ahead of the 2026-27 school year, public school leaders in Community Impact’s coverage areas shuttered at least nine individual schools to respond to repeated state accountability issues and stave off state intervention. A new Texas Education Agency rule may make it harder for districts to do so in the future.

The details: Beginning Aug. 16, if a district closes a D- or F-rated campus and transfers the largest share of students from the closed campus to a school with a C, D or F rating, the closed campus’ rating will be assigned to the new campus. 

Districts will only avoid transferring a shuttered school’s rating history if they relocate a plurality of students to an A- or B-rated campus.

Stay tuned: The TEA is scheduled to release A-F ratings for the 2025-26 school year on Aug. 14. If a school receives five failing ratings in a row, the TEA is required under state law to close that campus or replace the district’s board of trustees with a state-appointed board of managers.