Pflugerville City Council approved a $177,330 professional services agreement with LJA Engineering to begin engineering work for a planned extension of Terrell Lane, a project officials say could help ease traffic congestion and provide an alternate route during future roadway construction.

The measure passed 4-2, with council members David Rogers and Melody Ryan voting against it.

Two-minute impact: The proposed extension would connect roadways near the Stone Hill area and eventually link into Kingston Lacey, creating an additional east-west route.

A new shopping center, changes to local health care facilities and a construction milestone for a new recreation center are among the latest development updates in the Pflugerville, Hutto and Round Rock area. Check out these four development stories you may have missed.

1. New shopping center, flex campus planned for Pflugerville neighborhoods: Two commercial developments totaling more than 110,000 square feet are set to officially break ground in early April in Pflugerville, with developers targeting completion by early 2027.

2. Downtown East’s Monarch Recreation Center moves into next construction phase: City leaders, construction crews and community members gathered this week to mark a major milestone in the development of The Monarch, a new multigenerational recreation center rising within Pflugerville’s Downtown East district.

3. New multifamily housing underway at The District in Round Rock: Just under a year after Mark IV Capital broke ground on the infrastructure for its Round Rock mixed-used project known as The District, the developer and city officials marked the start of vertical construction on the project March 4.

Austin Community College announced a new partnership with the Round Rock-based Trellis Foundation to create an AI-driven system connecting students to support services, personalizing interventions and preparing students for an economy more prominently featuring AI technologies in day-to-day life. 

What you need to know: ACC Chancellor Russell Lowery-Hart said March 11 that this initiative, spearheaded by the community college and Trellis Foundation, will "lean in" to the AI-driven changes in the economy, seeking to meet the moment similar to that of previous large-scale changes, such as the Industrial Revolution or the introduction of computers. 

The initiative is supported by a $3 million federal grant to the ACC Center for Digital Innovation and eEntrepreneurship, which U.S. Rep. Lloyd Doggett said will be secured by a direct federal appropriation. 

What they're saying: "The question isn't whether AI will shape our future," Lowery-Hart said. "The question is whether higher education will lead in shaping how it's used. We can shape how it's used ethically with humans at the center of it, not in replacement of it."