The first year of Austin Resource Recovery's new on-demand pickup service saw "overwhelming" use by residents, who placed tens of thousands of appointments and had nearly 10,000 tons of bulk trash, brush and hazardous waste collected, according to the city.

The details: ARR launched the new on-demand service in January 2025 after years of limited pilot programs for on-demand pickup services. The change was billed as a strategy to divert bulk items from landfills, limit wildfire risks, and offer flexibility to residential customers.

ARR reported the pickup service saw gradually increasing usage and high resident approval throughout last year as public awareness grew. The city will continue to monitor the service and adjust operations as needed going forward to divert even more materials, and boost public satisfaction.

The Southwest Austin area has welcomed a handful of eateries including a Venezuelan food truck and fried chicken spot. Locals can stay tuned for additional changes to come with a new dance studio and health clinic coming soon. 

Eggs Up Grill
The new breakfast spot is helmed by local franchise owners Omar Thompson and Megan Hood. This is Eggs Up Grill’s first Austin location.

• Opened Feb. 5
• 9021 Goodnight Ranch Blvd., Unit 2100, Austin

• Relocation in spring
• 2607 S. First St., Austin

• Opened Dec. 12
• 2901 S. Capital of Texas Hwy., Austin

The focus of a national initiative to build climate resilience at the local level in Central Texas will focus on three specific climate hazards, the Center for Climate and Energy Solutions announced in February.

What you need to know: The Feb. 18 announcement states that the triple threat of extreme heat, wildfires and flooding in the area will be the focus of the Climate Resilient Communities Accelerator hub in the area. This comes after months of meetings with area leaders, assessment of area disasters and other information gathering.

What they're saying: This accelerator program will be the first through the CCES to include flooding, according the news release.  

"Although the harmful impacts of any of these hazards alone can be very significant, the compounding impacts when they overlap can be devastating," the release states. "Extreme heat can amplify wildfire risk, and heavy rainfall immediately following wildfire can increase erosion and flooding due to soil and vegetation changes."

Check out six upcoming or ongoing transportation projects around the Austin metro.

Upcoming projects
Austin Light Rail
Project: The 10-mile rail system will initially feature 15 stations along the alignment and all-electric trains running every five to 10 minutes throughout most of the day.
Update: Austin Transit Partnership approved a $60 million design-build contract for the first phase of the project Feb. 18.

• Timeline: construction expected to begin in 2027
• Cost: $7.1 billion
• Funding source: federal grants and infrastructure loans, Project Connect revenues, city taxes

• Timeline: 2026-28 (Phase 1A)
• Cost: $30 million (Phase 1A)
• Funding sources: federal funding, city of Leander (Phase 1A)