Urban Rooftop, perched on the fourth floor of the 4Eleven office building at the corner of Harris Street and Bagdad Avenue, will celebrate 10 years of bringing upscale cocktails, mocktails and bites to downtown Round Rock in May.

About the business: Locally owned by Allison and Blake Notgrass, Urban Rooftop is part of a synergistic ecosystem at the western end of downtown Round Rock.

The rooftop bar, with views of both downtown and the nearby creek, is one of three businesses under the Urban umbrella, along with the URBAN Eat.Drink restaurant and Urban Creekside event space.

The bar, which Allison said draws inspiration from the classic speakeasy, is an upscale environment inviting meetings, corporate happy hours and other events to book the space originally built as a conference room for the 4Eleven office building.

In 2020 and 2021, the venue was closed for renovations, in which the indoor portion of the space was extended to increase climate controlled seating.

The city of Round Rock is working on an update to its Trails Master Plan, recently launching a community survey to hear from residents how the trail system can be improved.

The gist: The survey is part of an ongoing update to the trails master plan, meant to help guide Round Rock’s planning, construction and improvement process in the future. The intent is for residents to provide feedback on how they currently use trails throughout the city.

As part of the process, the city is exploring trail-oriented development along Brushy Creek Trail, such as mixed-use developments that include residential and commercial properties.

The city’s latest connection is the 1-mile Lake Creek Trail that ties Round Rock West Park into Centennial Plaza. The city has more than 20 miles of hike and bike trails, with additional connections in the planning stages.

Check out six upcoming, ongoing or completed transportation projects across the Austin metro.

Ongoing projects

Chisholm Trail South improvements
Project: The city of Round Rock is reconstructing Chisholm Trail Road from Sam Bass Road to RM 620, with drainage, pedestrian, and lighting improvements.
Update: Construction recently resumed. Pedestrian improvements are under design. In February, traffic was temporarily rerouted to address utility issues.

• Timeline: roadway completion expected in summer 2026
• Cost: $4.26 million for construction
• Funding source: type B sales tax revenue

• Timeline: July 2024-February 2026
• Cost: $25.9 million
• Funding source: 2020 Mobility Bond

Typhoon Texas Waterpark is hiring more than 600 seasonal employees as it prepares for the upcoming summer season.

What you need to know: The Pflugerville waterpark is seeking workers age 15 and older for a range of positions, including lifeguards, admissions staff, food and beverage workers and park services employees.

Applications are available online, and hiring will continue on a rolling basis, park officials said.

On March 31, Texas’ roughly 9,000 licensed consumable hemp retailers will face sweeping regulations, including a more than 3,000% increase in annual licensing fees and a ban on most smokable cannabis products.

The overview: The new rules, which also include age verification requirements, stricter packaging guidelines and more rounds of product testing, were originally proposed in December. The Texas Department of State Health Services, which regulates the state’s hemp industry, adopted the rules March 2.

The debate: Supporters of the increased regulations previously said they hoped the changes would result in more comprehensive oversight of Texas’ hemp industry and improve consumer safety. 

Some experts said they were concerned the new rules were taking effect too quickly and could lead some hemp businesses to close their doors.

"It is really tragic that these entrepreneurs are being faced with this, especially in a state like Texas that touts being pro-business ... and here we are shutting down businesses and relegating consumers to an illicit market," said Heather Fazio, director of the Texas Cannabis Policy Center.