ATX-RRK: Impact 10/30/2025

Surfing Crab will have a soft opening for its new Round Rock location Oct. 30.

What’s on the menu: The restaurant specializes in seafood, including crab, shrimp, oysters, calamari, lobster, catfish and more. Customers can choose from fried baskets, po'boys, boiled seafood and other options.

Sides include dishes like corn on the cob, fried rice, cajun fries, coleslaw, broccoli and other options. Surfing Crab also offers a variety of cocktails, beer and seltzers.

The new restaurant took over the space formerly occupied by Romano’s Macaroni Grill.

Educated Arms, a locally-owned gun shop offering a variety of firearms, accessories and courses, opened a retail location in Round Rock in September.

About the business: Educated Arms offers a variety of handguns, shotguns, rifles, firearm accessories and ammunition. Customers can also use an indoor Mantis laser dry fire range to analyze their shooting to find a firearm that suits them best, owner Jon Jacoby said. 

About the owner: Jacoby said his work with Educated Arms began when he himself took a course to earn his concealed carry license, and was inspired to become a firearm educator.

The Texas Department of Transportation will begin one of Austin’s largest underground construction projects in 2026—boring 6.5 miles of 22-foot-wide tunnels beneath I-35 to reduce flooding along the corridor.

Explained: As part of the I-35 Central project, the tunnels—large enough to fit a CapMetro bus—will stretch from 45th Street to Cesar Chavez Street before turning east toward U.S. 183 near Lady Bird Lake. Work will begin with excavation of nine drop shafts up to 200 feet deep, with the first tunnel boring machine starting near Airport Boulevard in 2026.

The $748 million project, led by contractor Sak & Shea, also includes a new pump station capable of treating 130,000 gallons of stormwater per minute. TxDOT says the system will improve water quality, lower the floodplain by roughly 350 acres and ease pressure on the Waller Creek tunnel.

Looking ahead: Construction will run around the clock through 2029. Nearby residents can expect some vibration and dust, though TxDOT plans to monitor and mitigate both throughout the project.

The overview: As Community Impact enters its third decade, it’s returning to its roots of growth and deeper reader connections. The “Patron” program, which began in 2020 by reader demand, has relaunched as the InCIder.

“This relaunch represents our renewed commitment to readers who support our local news,” CEO John Garrett said. “Beyond funding great journalism, we also want to reward our InCIders and build deeper connections with them, creating a true sense of community around the work we do.”

Event details: As part of the relaunch, Community Impact will host its first-ever InCIder Hour, a new event aimed at celebrating and engaging the company’s supporters.

The event, open to InCIders only, will take place Nov. 12 from 5:30-7 p.m. at Community Impact Headquarters, 16225 Impact Way, Pflugerville.

Guests will have the opportunity to network with fellow InCIders, meet Community Impact staff and attend a featured conversation with legislative reporter Hannah Norton, moderated by Garrett.

“Our first event needed to start where all the hard work is put together,” Garrett said. “People are blown away when they see our operation. To be able to sit and chat with the best legislative reporter in Texas, Hannah Norton, makes it an event our InCIder friends deserve and hopefully will enjoy.”