The North Carolina Department of Transportation said it is already hard at work in Mebane, where Buc-ee's is set to open its new location at the end of next year.
Transportation engineers say that crews will widen the two-lane road at the site off of I-40/I-85. It comes as a relief to neighbors who are worried that their city is growing too fast.
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The impact on traffic has been one of the top concerns among residents since the convenience superstore was first proposed off Exit 152. The expected 74,000-square-foot site will be close in size to a supermarket or medium department store with 120 gas pumps and offer hundreds of jobs, according to Buc-ee's.
Crews are already hard at work grading the site. The activity has people talking. But for nearby convenience stores, the buzz around Buc-ee's is not good for business.
"We're holding our own, but yes, is it going to hurt us once it's open. Like I said with our lottery, it won’t, but the other little grocery store industry yes it will,” said Hawfield’s General Store manager Kyle Kirchner.
The store’s owner is considering changing what he buys and when to stay in business, Kirchner said.
“They make their own beef jerky so that puts a lot of beef jerky makers [in a tough spot]…because you can buy one slice or buy by the pound,” Kirchner said using the example of just one item they sell.
Mebane is growing fast. New housing is going up. A Target and Publix are already cleared to build and it all has locals concerned about what an influx of people will do to the increasingly busy country roads.
NCDOT has a contractor already on site and work has started to widen the two-lane Trollingwood Hawfields Road to two lanes each way. There will also be turning lanes, according to John Howell, resident engineer at NCDOT.
The state transportation department is also planning to construct an additional bridge as part of a diverging diamond interchange, Howell said. The design allows traffic to flow more freely off of and onto the ramps from I-40 so traffic does not back up onto the interstate, he said.
The city of Mebane officials said Buc-ee's has yet to turn in an application to build its main building. They'll have to have that into the city and approved before workers can officially break ground on the site.
WRAL reached out to Buc-ee's for a timeline of its building plan and did not hear back.