Austin Autos

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The drought has affected several planned Independence Day events across Central Texas.

And though Austin canceled its annual pyrotechnic show and musical celebration on Lady Bird Lake, surrounding areas still plan to offer events like parades, festivals and, yes, fireworks.

To see the current status of local events, visit the July 4 events calendar here.

Anyone delayed by the weekend construction closures of Interstate 35 or just frustrated with the daily slowdowns will be interested to hear that the Austin City Council recently approved a $1 million traffic study to find ways to ease congestion.

The global engineering firm Parsons Brinckerhoff Americas will study the feasibility of such projects cutting accident response times and altering traffic light timing to see whether smaller solutions would have a bigger impact than adding lanes.

And in other City Hall news, the council delayed a vote on the controversial Formula One project until June 29. At the most recent City Council meeting, members expressed concerns that pending contracts had not been fully vetted and about potential loopholes related to environmental and tax concerns.

Mayor Lee Leffingwell, the only member of the City Council who voted against the delay, recently told the Austin American-Statesman, "It could kill the deal for the City of Austin.