When will new Buc-ee’s open near road to Hilton Head Island?
Work has started on the future Buc-ee’s site near Exit 8 on Interstate 95 — but Lowcountry residents still have a ways to go until they can get brisket sandwiches and Beaver Nuggets.
Site clearing has begun at the future Buc-ee’s site, located west of I-95 and north of U.S. 278 in Hardeeville. The gas station will be 20 miles west of Hilton Head Island, 27 miles southeast of Beaufort and 20 miles north of Savannah, Georgia. Land north of the Holiday Inn Express & Suites has been cleared, and crews were spotted working on the 46-acre site last week.
But despite the visible progress on the site, Buc-ee’s still has a long way to go before it opens in the Lowcountry. Josh Gruber, Hardeeville city manager, said the gas station won’t open until after the I-95 expansion at Exit 8 is completed in 2030.
“We are still a ways out in Hardeeville, so I’m unable to provide information at this time,” Crissy Gonzales, Buc-ee’s media coordinator, said last week when asked for an update on the project.
Buc-ee’s is a Texas-based chain of huge travel centers, known for its snacks, comfort food, merchandise and the “cleanest restrooms in America.” The company plans its footprint around road trip bathroom breaks, Gruber said; the Hardeeville location will be about 160 miles south of a Buc-ee’s in Florence, South Carolina, and 75 miles north of one in Brunswick, Georgia.
The I-95 expansion, the most expensive contract in the history of the South Carolina Department of Transportation at $825 million, includes building a diverging diamond interchange at Exit 8.
A diverging diamond, considered a “game changer” for high-traffic areas, eliminates the need for drivers to make left turns across oncoming traffic by temporarily shifting them in both directions to the opposite sides of the road.
Buc-ees will span roughly half of the 46-acre site, Gruber said. The rest will be a series of outparcels with yet-to-be-determined retailers.
Hardeeville is a great fit for Buc-ees, Gruber said, because there’s a ton of volume on I-95 and U.S. 278.
The year 2030 might seem like a long time from now, but Gruber said it will go fast. Vertical construction will start at the end of 2028, he said.
“It will go by quickly. We’ll be in 2027 before you know it,” he said.