Nearby Buc-ee's for Richmond still years away

The latest: The Stafford Buc-ee's cleared a major hurdle this week when the county's Planning Commission narrowly approved Buc-ee's plan to open one just off I-95 there, Washington Business Journal reports.

• They approved it despite a commission staff report that recommended they deny the proposal due to traffic concerns.
• Citing VDOT findings, the staff report noted that even with plan changes by Buc-ee's, the uber-popular, 120-pump gas station could cause traffic congestion that spills onto the I-95 exit 140 ramp, and possibly the interstate.
• The county board of supervisors will have the final say on Stafford Buc-ee's later this year.

Meanwhile, the New Kent Buc-ee's, which the Texas chain announced in 2023 as the first for Virginia to open as early as this year, now won't open until 2031.

• The hold up there is also traffic concerns, and a VDOT interchange improvement project in New Kent that will prepare Exit 211 for expected Buc-ee's traffic, per WWBT.

• Work is slated to begin on that next spring, per VDOT.

The bottom line: For now, and for apparently many years to come, Virginians will have to get their Beaver Nugget fix at the sole Buc-ee's that opened last year.

• It's just two shortish hours from Richmond, off I-81 in Rockingham County, near Harrisonburg.