Fort Bend County will add sport areas, community gardens, a playground and a dog park to Duhacsek Park after assessing feedback from residents, officials said in an Aug. 25 meeting.

The master plan comes after Sugar Land City Council unanimously agreed to transfer operations and development responsibilities of the 50-acre park to the county in December for development, maintenance and management of the park.

What’s new: The park, located at 17034 Old Richmond Road, Sugar Land, was gifted to the city of Sugar Land by Virginia and Walter Duhacsek in 2001, Community Impact previously reported.

Currently, the park has a pavilion and a historic house surrounded by pecan trees, but the county is revamping it to adding an estimated $6.5 million in new features, including a playground, pickleball court, tennis court, nine-hole disc golf course, multi-use sports field, cricket fields, dog park, pavilions, picnic area, community gardens, walking trails, expanded bathrooms and parking.

Looking ahead: Officials said construction for phase one to be done in a little over a year.

Pepper Lunch is set to bring a new location to Missouri City, according to a filing with the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation.

What they offer: The Japanese fast-casual restaurant features an interactive model where meals are served on iron plates heated to 500 degrees Fahrenheit for patrons to mix, sauce and finish cooking their meal, per its website.

The menu features a variety of pepper rice, teriyaki, steak, seafood, curry and pasta options.

Stay tuned: The $850,000 renovation project is slated to begin in October and be completed by mid-November, per the filing.

• 10407 Hwy. 6, Missouri City

Greater Houston-area officials are monitoring conditions as a tropical system could bring heavy rainfall and the potential for flash flooding to the area as early as the morning of Sept. 1, per the National Weather Service.

What’s happening: Per the NWS, Tropical Depression 5 is expected to become a tropical storm after press time Aug. 31 before making landfall along the upper Texas or southwest Louisiana coast Sept. 1.

Gov. Greg Abbott at an Aug. 31 press conference said the storm is anticipated to make landfall near Chambers and Jefferson counties in the afternoon of Sept. 1. The worst of the rain is expected to be concentrated in Harris County.

That forecast could include a storm surge of 2-4 feet in Chambers and Jefferson counties, as well as local rainfall getting as high as 10-15 inches, including in some areas getting 3-4 inches per hour, Abbott said.

While the rainfall is expected to affect the area’s rivers, it’s too early to tell if it will pose any imminent danger, Abbott said.

Gov. Greg Abbott announced over $6.3 million in grants for 27 organizations that serve veterans in the Southeast Texas region as part of the Texas Veterans Commission’s Grants Across Texas Tour initiative according to a news release. The TVC is Texas’ state department of veteran affairs. 

Quote of note: “Texans are forever indebted to our brave veterans who selflessly answered the call to serve in our nation’s military,” Abbott said. “These Fund for Veterans' Assistance grants will provide the men and women who served in our nation’s military access to crucial services to improve their quality of life in Southeast Texas and the Coastal Bend area. Our state will always honor our veterans, their families, and their service to our state and our nation.”

The Texas Department of Transportation manages over 200,000 miles of state highways. Roughly 72% of all vehicle travel in the state occurs on TxDOT-maintained highways, TxDOT Executive Director Marc Williams said.

As Texas’ population continues to grow, so does “demand on our transportation systems, from busy urban corridors to rural communities,” Williams told lawmakers during an Aug. 17 hearing held by the Texas House Transportation Committee.

What's happening: More than 11,000 TxDOT projects are currently in the works, according to the agency’s website.

To keep motorists informed about road construction, TxDOT collects public input during the project planning process, then conducts outreach on social media, on project websites and through email notifications before and during closures, according to Eric Lykins, TxDOT’s senior director of district operations. The agency also places electronic message signs on roadways ahead of closures or detours, he said.

Some state lawmakers are encouraging transportation officials to improve outreach to motorists when roads, lanes and exits are closed or adjusted.