Austinites will now have access to information on local transportation projects that could impact commutes through a mobile app. City leaders celebrated the official launch of CTXGO on Oct. 1, a new tool from the Construction Partnership Program.

Some context: Participating CPP agencies include the city of Austin, Austin Transit Partnership, CapMetro, the Central Texas Regional Mobility Authority, the Capital Area Metropolitan Planning Organization and the Texas Department of Transportation.

How it works: CTXGO operates as both a free mobile app and website. Users can select from a variety of map layers to see real-time roadway information, including traffic congestion, incidents such as stalled or abandoned vehicles, and what electronic roadway message signs are currently displaying such as estimated travel times. The work zone map displays lane closures with expected start and end dates and times.

The local impact: Austin Mobility officials said more than $20 billion in transportation and infrastructure projects across multiple agencies are planned in Central Texas over the next several years.

ACL Fest kicks off Friday at Zilker Park with rain in the forecast. The 25th Austin City Limits Music Festival runs Oct. 2-4 and Oct. 9-11.

There is no parking at Zilker Park, and parking in surrounding neighborhoods is prohibited, according to Austin Transportation and Public Works.

Getting there: A free festival shuttle departs from Sand Beach Park, at Walter Seaholm and Electric drives, starting at 11:30 a.m.

CapMetro routes 3 and 803 stop near South Lamar Boulevard and Barton Springs Road.

Rideshare points are at Veterans Drive, Lee Barton Drive and Wallingwood Drive.

Watch the weather: The festival will go on unless producer C3 Presents decides otherwise. A flood watch is in effect through 7 p.m. Friday, with 2-3 inches of rain forecast and the county's emergency operations center activated.

Steering clear: Barton Springs Road is closed from 7 p.m. Thursday to 6 a.m. Monday both weekends, and some lots and roads will stay closed as late as Oct. 16.

The Austin Police Department will run a No Refusal Initiative nightly Oct. 3-12.

Austin residents can find several new businesses opening up on the south side, including restaurant and retail updates:

• Mendocino Farms opened a new location on South Lamar Boulevard on Sept. 22, selling specialty sandwiches, salads, wraps, soups and sides.

• Casa Fina, a Spanish tapas restaurant and bar, is coming to Josephine Street in September 2026.

• Three businesses are coming to The Code on South Lamar: boutique fashion store Manhattan Cowgirl in fall 2026, wellness franchise Pure Sweat + Float Studio in winter 2026 and ISI® Elite Training in winter 2026.

• A second location of Bartlett's is planned for West Riverside Drive, with construction estimated to wrap up in late September 2027.

• Perla's temporarily closed following a kitchen fire on Sept. 6.

• Little Nishi is closing its South Congress trailer on Oct. 1 before opening a brick-and-mortar location.

Texas school districts using the state-developed Bluebonnet Learning curriculum saw slightly better year-over-year achievement last school year than other districts, according to Texas Education Agency data released Sept. 30.

What's happening: During the 2025-26 school year, 619 of Texas' 1,200 public school districts opted in to implement at least one of the three Bluebonnet curriculum programs—elementary math, secondary math and elementary language arts.

On this spring's State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness exam, districts using the state-developed math materials saw student improvement that was 0.6 percentage points higher than students in other districts, while districts that implemented the reading materials performed 0.2 percentage points higher on the STAAR than other schools.

What they're saying: The TEA said the gains in student achievement are an "encouraging sign of early progress."

Zeph Capo, president of the Texas American Federation of Teachers, a statewide educator union, disagreed, calling the results "rather paltry."

"It may take a few more years to determine if this is a valid trend or simply an anomaly," Capo said in a statement.