Road improvements recently began to make way for the largest and likely most-anticipated project in Mebane: a Buc-ee’s travel plaza planned for 32 acres near I-85/40 at Trollingwood-Hawfields Road – which will be North Carolina’s first.
“We are almost to the finish line with the technical review of the civil [engineering] plans for Buc-ee’s,” Mebane city officials recently told The Alamance News, adding that the planning department is currently reviewing the building plans.
The Buc-ee’s in Mebane will have a 75,440-square foot convenience store, 120 fuel pumps, 24 electric vehicle charging stations, and 652 parking spaces, based on plans that Mebane’s city council heard during a public hearing early last year.
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That meeting drew record attendance – 217 people, 60 of whom spoke during the public hearing and had traveled from as far away as Raleigh and Charlotte – before the council voted 5-0 to approve a special use permit to allow the project to go forward.
Now, road work is in progress near exit 152 off I-85/40, at Trollingwood-Hawfields Road, to rebuild the interchange, widen the bridge over the interstate, and add more turn lanes to the eastbound and westbound ramps, based on plans that Buc-ee’s representatives outlined for the council last year.
In an earlier interview with The Alamance News, Stan Beard, Jr., the company’s vice president for real estate, explained that Buc-ee’s will pay for the $6 to $11 million cost for the road improvements, rather than relying on funding through the state Department of Transportation.
Overall, Buc-ee’s representatives estimate that the company’s investment in the Mebane location, including construction and 831 new jobs, will total $91 million.
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Alamance County is estimated to receive an infusion of $1.8 million in sales tax revenue from the up to five million travelers they say will visit the Mebane location, based on plans outlined to Mebane city council members prior to their approval in early 2024.
Buc-ee’s has become something of a destination itself for travelers throughout the southern and southwestern U.S. because of its brisket sandwiches, clean bathrooms, beaver nuggets, and cheap gas.
Mebane’s city council had already rezoned the property in December 2022 for a 279,000-square foot warehouse with 49 truck docks and 211 parking stalls, requested by Crow Holdings. That company has completed work for two other warehouses on land nearby the site of the forthcoming Buc-ee’s, although no tenants have been announced yet.
Buc-ee’s, however, does not allow tractor-trailer traffic at any of its 50 existing locations in the U.S., according to the company.
Buc-ee’s representatives assured the council last year that all road improvements for the project will be completed by the time the Mebane location opens, which is currently targeted for late 2026 or early 2027.
