NEW KENT — The Texas-based roadside travel chain Buc-ee’s is still on course to open one of its first stores in Virginia in New Kent in 2027 despite a complicated series of road improvements.
New Kent County Planning Director Amy Inman said the mega convenience store will have to coordinate with the Interstate 64 widening project as well as the reconstruction of the Route 106 bridge, but that “they are still planning to open in 2027.”
In a briefing to the county Planning Commission on April 15, Inman said Buc-ee’s is continuing to work through environmental studies with the Virginia Department of Transportation and the Federal Highway Administration.
In 2023, when Buc-ee’s announced its first giant roadside travel center in Virginia, New Kent was in the vanguard of the chain’s expansion in Virginia. Last June, property management company S.L. Nusbaum Realty said groundbreaking would take place “in the coming months,” with construction expected to be completed within 24 months. However, the I-64 widening and associated intersection improvements have complicated the equation and delayed the groundbreaking.
Instead, Buc-ee’s held its first groundbreaking in Virginia at a location off I-81 on Jan. 30. The travel center in Rockingham County will occupy 74,000 square feet and offer 120 fueling positions.
Buc-ee’s recently submitted a conditional use permit application to Stafford County for a third travel center on about 36 acres off Exit 140 of Interstate 95, Virginia Business reported in March. The Stafford proposal has sparked a backlash from some residents who are concerned about possible noise and traffic congestion.
Buc-ee’s has said it expects to build four stores in Virginia over the next several years.
The timing of the New Kent Buc-ee’s is linked to a redesign of the Exit 211 interchange as well as the I-64 widening, which is underway in the county. Inman said a new “diverging diamond” interchange at the intersection, which is intended to improve safety and mobility, is unlikely to be completed until 2030.
An interim configuration proposed by Buc-ee’s “should be sufficient until we can get the full build in terms of handling the congestion and the backups,” she said.
The store is part of a development jigsaw that includes 1,600 acres to the south, yielding about 7 million square feet of industrial development and a planned unit development near the interstate. An Autozone distribution center under construction near Exit 211 is scheduled to open in 2025.
Inman said the full reconstruction of the 106 bridge was already funded. “VDOT was very gracious in moving the schedule up on that reconstruction to time it with Buc-ee’s and everything else that’s going on. I do believe they’ll make their schedule.”
David Macaulay, Davidmacaulayva@gmail.com
