Virginia’s Buc-ee’s map is getting closer to a major new pin… and this one could matter a LOT for drivers on I-95.
After years of debate in Stafford County, supervisors have approved plans for a massive Buc-ee’s travel center near Exit 140, bringing the Texas-born chain one big step closer to Northern Virginia. The vote gives Buc-ee’s the local green light it needed, though drivers should not expect brisket sandwiches and Beaver Nuggets in Stafford right away.
What Stafford County just approved
The Stafford County Board of Supervisors voted 5-2 after a marathon meeting that stretched past midnight, approving rezoning and a conditional-use permit for the project.
The proposed site is near Courthouse Road and Austin Ridge Drive, just off Interstate 95.
For Buc-ee’s fans, it is a huge win.
For nearby residents worried about traffic, noise and neighborhood impacts, it is not the end of the fight.
What the new Buc-ee’s would include
The planned Stafford Buc-ee’s would be enormous even by convenience-store standards: about 74,000 square feet, with 120 fuel pumps, 24 electric vehicle charging spaces and roughly 830 parking spaces.
The project is also expected to create about 200 jobs and generate nearly $1.9 million in annual general fund revenue for Stafford County.
That is the pitch supporters leaned on: jobs, tax revenue and a high-profile stop for travelers already pouring through the I-95 corridor.
Why some neighbors are still pushing back
Opponents have argued the project is too large for the location. (Although isn’t, that, kind of the point of Buc-ee’s?)
Concerns raised around the proposal include traffic congestion, neighborhood disruption, noise, lighting, air quality and emergency response times. A traffic analysis projected more than 20,000 vehicle trips per day tied to the development.
That is why the approval does not mean bulldozers are rolling tomorrow.
Why the project still is not shovel-ready
Because the site sits so close to I-95, the project still needs a state and federal transportation review before construction can begin.
Officials have said the federal traffic study could take about a year and a half, and Board Chairman Deuntay Diggs said the store may be three to four years away from opening.
The local political hurdle is now cleared. Stafford County’s own project page says the Board of Supervisors voted on May 19, 2026, to approve the project, while also warning that the development will take “significant time” to build.
When the Stafford Buc-ee’s could open
If (let’s face it, probably “when”) it ultimately opens, the Stafford store would be Virginia’s next Buc-ee’s to open its doors — and likely its second overall, given that a third planned location in New Kent County along I-64 has been pushed to 2031. That makes Stafford the more immediate prize for I-95 travelers between Northern Virginia, Richmond and points farther south.
It would follow the Rockingham County Buc-ee’s location near I-81 south of Harrisonburg, giving Virginia another high-profile stop in the chain’s fast-growing Southeast expansion.
That gives this story a familiar Buc-ee’s tension: plenty of people want the clean bathrooms, brisket, fudge and road-trip spectacle. Plenty of neighbors do not want the traffic that comes with it.
For now, Stafford’s Buc-ee’s is approved – but not built.
The beaver has cleared a crucial hurdle in Virginia. The next question is whether the roads around Exit 140 can clear the next one.
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