Idaho’s possible Buc-ee’s has lost its original location, but the chain may not be giving up on the state. After the proposed Meridian project ran into a major traffic roadblock, a local developer says other Treasure Valley sites are being placed in front of Buc-ee’s.
That is the encouraging part.
The discouraging part is that none of those alternatives has been officially announced.
Buc-ee’s had been studying a site near Interstate 84 and Meridian Road, roughly 10 miles west of downtown Boise. Records obtained by BoiseDev described a store of more than 74,000 square feet, upwards of $50 million in capital expenditures, and 175 to 225 employees generating about $9 million in annual payroll.
The location looked ideal on a map. It sat next to Idaho’s most important interstate and within one of the state’s fastest-growing cities.
Traffic projections destroyed that plan.
According to BoiseDev, employees at both the Idaho Transportation Department and the City of Meridian had concerns about the estimated 19,000 vehicles predicted to stop at the travel center each day. The Meridian Road interchange is already heavily congested, and officials questioned whether the area could absorb that additional traffic.
Buc-ee’s engineers proposed a flyover structure as one possible solution. However, ITD identified unresolved questions about whether the structure would fit and which agency would own it, among other concerns. The department said it had not heard back from Buc-ee’s since raising those issues.
Buc-ee’s never submitted a formal land-use or building application for the Meridian Road site. The plan stalled before an application existed.
Normally, that would sound like the end of the story.
Instead, Mark Cleverley, chief leasing officer for Boise developer Ahlquist, said during a recent livestream that he remained confident Buc-ee’s would eventually enter the Treasure Valley, and indicated his company had other sites it would like the chain to consider.
No addresses were disclosed, and Buc-ee’s has not confirmed that it selected or is negotiating for another Idaho property. That distinction matters: Idaho has a promising developer’s statement, not an approved Buc-ee’s project.
The original Meridian location is effectively out. The broader Idaho search may still be alive.
Buc-ee’s has already demonstrated an interest in western expansion. The chain opened in Colorado, entered Arizona with a Goodyear store in June 2026, and reached an agreement for its first Utah location in Springville. A Treasure Valley store would help connect those markets with the Pacific Northwest.
Idaho currently has no Buc-ee’s locations, no approved site and no announced construction timeline. Any opening would probably be several years away.
Still, the latest development is more hopeful than a simple cancellation. Buc-ee’s could not make Idaho’s busiest interchange work, but local developers are now trying to find a site where the traffic math makes more sense.
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