Buc-ee’s Eyes Second North Carolina Location Along I-95 in Rocky Mount

Buc-ee’s is pursuing a second North Carolina travel center, this time along Interstate 95 in Rocky Mount, with a neighborhood meeting scheduled for October 22.

The Texas-based chain is under contract to purchase about 34 acres near the interchange of I-95 and N.C. Highway 4, also known as Halifax Road, in the city’s Gold Rock area. Rocky Mount officials confirmed the proposal after a company letter began circulating on social media.

The city is reviewing a rezoning request, according to ABC11’s report. No opening date has been announced for Rocky Mount.

Residents get a first look this week

A neighborhood informational meeting is scheduled for Thursday, October 22, at 6 p.m. at the Frederick E. Turnage Municipal Building, 331 S. Franklin Street.

Buc-ee’s hopes to bring its rezoning request before the city’s planning board November 10, according to the company letter reported by WRAL. That remains a proposed next step, with the project still moving through review.

City leaders have welcomed the prospect of the travel center, while acknowledging that some of its economic details remain unsettled. Councilman Jabaris Walker told WRAL that job numbers and the financial impact were not yet known. He also pointed to community meetings as an opportunity to raise questions about traffic.

“This is just the starting point,” Mayor Sandy Roberson said in a statement quoted by the station.

Another North Carolina interstate corridor

The Rocky Mount proposal would give Buc-ee’s a presence along a different route from its North Carolina project already under construction in Mebane, beside I-40/I-85.

The chain’s large travel centers combine fuel stations with food and retail, drawing customers for brisket sandwiches and restrooms as well as gasoline. A Rocky Mount location would bring that format to the I-95 corridor in northeastern North Carolina.

The Mebane timetable is less clear than recent reports suggest. Although local coverage has cited November 2027, Buc-ee’s current opening schedule lists Mebane for 2028 and cautions that estimates can change. Rocky Mount is not yet on that schedule.

For residents near the proposed site, the October 22 meeting is the next opportunity to hear what Buc-ee’s intends to build and ask how it would fit into the surrounding area.