The owners of Marisol's Mexican Grill in Georgetown will be opening a second Liberty Hill location, Rodeo Mexican Kitchen & Bar, in early May.

What they offer: At Marisol’s Mexican Grill, about half of the menu items are Mexican dishes, and the other half are Tex-Mex favorites. Popular dishes include handmade tamales, fajitas, menudo, chile Colorado and mole enchiladas. Owner Ismael Sanchez said the new location will be a similar concept.

“The menu is going to be similar to what we have here at Marisol’s Mexican grill,” Sanchez said. “A few of the dishes will be different, but same recipes.”

More details: Sanchez hopes to open Rodeo Mexican Kitchen & Bar in the first or second week of May. Marisol's will celebrate 6 years in July.

• 13750 W. Hwy. 29, Liberty Hill

In an April 16 meeting, the Leander City Council voted 6-1 to approve of a $120,280 expansion to this year’s Liberty Fest celebration, which will mark the 250th anniversary of the nation’s founding.

The breakdown: Ashlea Boyle, executive director of Parks, Recreation and Community Services for Leander, presented three options for consideration as the city prepares for Independence Day.

Council members approved Option 1—the most expansive plan—which adds a $60,000 drone show, “patriotic parade,” and a weekend of activities before Liberty Fest. The plan also includes expanded programming, community giveaways, and additional decorations throughout the city.

The second option would have reduced costs to $74,505 by scaling back the drone show, eliminating the parade and cutting other elements. A third option would have kept the existing Liberty Fest budget of $95,000 with no additional programming.

Next steps: Liberty Fest is still planned for July 3. Residents can continue to expect live music, food, and fireworks in addition to the expansions included in Option 1.

Check out the latest transportation updates around the Austin metro.

Upcoming projects

Austin Transit Partnership approves Light Rail maintenance building construction, land acquisition contracts: On April 15, the agency approved a contract in an amount not to exceed $25 million for the construction of an operations and maintenance facility as part of Phase 1 of the project. The facility will serve as the light rail's home base for the trains to be cleaned, serviced and maintained. The agency also approved a resolution not to exceed $230 million to acquire up to 18 parcels of property to use as part of Phase 1.

Ongoing projects

Greenlawn Boulevard widening
Project: The city of Round Rock is reconstructing Greenlawn Boulevard from an existing four-lane divided roadway to a six-lane divided urban roadway with pedestrian and lighting improvements.
Update: Per city officials, the traffic pattern was adjusted in March, reducing a portion of Greenlawn Boulevard to one lane in each direction.

• Timeline: completion is expected by April 2027

• Cost: $13.95 million

• Funding source: type B sales tax revenue

Texans interested in casting a ballot in next month’s primary runoff election have until April 27 to register to vote or update their registration, if applicable.

The background: Texas’ primary runoff election will be held May 26. A runoff is held when no candidate secures over half of the vote in a partisan primary race.

Registering to vote: Prospective voters must submit a paper application, which is available online. Applications must be printed, signed and mailed to the voter registration office in a voter’s county of residence.

On the ballot: Various federal, state and local races will appear on the May 26 runoff ballot.

At the top of the ticket, Republican voters will pick between incumbent Sen. John Cornyn and state Attorney General Ken Paxton to determine the party’s nominee for U.S. Senate. The winner of that race will face state Rep. James Talarico, D-Austin, in November.

Something to note: The runoff election is separate from upcoming local elections, which take place May 2. Visit www.communityimpact.com/voter-guide for more information about those elections.