Residents driving on Hwy. 90 in Katy city limits will soon see changes to the speed limit.

What residents need to know: At an Aug. 24 meeting, Katy City Council voted to approve an ordinance setting new speed limits along portions of Hwy. 90. The changes come after the Texas Department of Transportation conducted a traffic study on the road and recommended decreasing the speed limit on a section of the road.

The setup: The speed limit on Hwy. 90 is being lowered from 55 mph to 50 mph on the road 2.5 miles east of Woods Road to the western section of Schlipf Road and the road 0.33 miles east of Choctaw Lane to the eastern section of Tubular Road, according to agenda documents.

On the horizon: City Engineer David Kasper said the ordinance will go into effect once the state replaces the current speed limit signs with the updated ones at a later date not available as of press time.

Unincorporated Fort Bend County is now under an outdoor burn ban effective Aug. 27 at 5 p.m.

What residents need to know: The ban, which was approved by Fort Bend County commissioners at an Aug. 27 meeting, came after the Texas A&M Forest Service determined the whole county has drought conditions.

Fort Bend joined 200 other counties in Texas with a burn ban, including Wharton and Galveston counties, according to the Forest Service. Harris County does not have a burn ban in place.

Looking ahead: The outdoor burn ban will remain in effect until rescinded but should not be more than 90 days unless extended by commissioners, per agenda documents.

Several stormwater drainage improvements are coming to Harris County, with commissioners greenlighting $22 million in project bids.

The overview: The Harris County Commissioners Court approved bids for the expansion of the T.C. Jester and Lauder stormwater detention basins, as well as construction for a basin along South Mayde Creek near Grand Parkway during its Aug. 25 business court meeting.

The detention basins will increase the amount of stormwater held in the Cypress Creek, Greens Bayou and Addicks Reservoir watersheds, respectively. The basins are designed to capture water during heavy rainfall to mitigate flooding, according to the Harris County Flood Control District.

The cost: Persons Services, an industrial contractor based in Humble, won the Lauder basin bid for about $5 million. Texas Dewatering, a groundwater and dewatering specialist based in northwest Houston, won the T.C. Jester and South Mayde Creek bids for about $9.5 million and $7.5 million, respectively.

Community Development Block Grant-Disaster Recovery, a federal grant program, will fund the bids for the Lauder basin and the basin along South Mayde Creek.

Texas voters will choose from Republican Bo French, Libertarian Arthur DiBianca and Democrat Jon Rosenthal in this November's Texas Railroad Commission race.

The details: The winner of the race will be sworn in to replace incumbent Commissioner Jim Wright in January.

French beat Wright in a May Republican primary runoff, advancing to the general election. Rosenthal ran uncontested in the March Democratic primary, while DiBianca was selected as the Texas Libertarian Party's candidate during an April nominating convention.

Did you know: The three-member railroad commission does not have any jurisdiction over the state's railroads—that authority was transferred to the Texas Department of Transportation and the federal government by 2005, according to the commission's website. Instead, the agency regulates Texas' oil and gas industries.

Looking ahead: Early voting in dozens of local and state races runs from Oct. 19-30, and Election Day is Nov. 3.