HARDEEVILLE, S.C. (WTO) – At Thursday night’s city council meeting, officials announced a significant development: a new Buc-ee’s travel center is coming to the Hardeeville area.

The popular beaver mascot, “Bu-cee”, is headed to Hardeeville!

“We are in the early stages of building a travel center that will have the logo, the elite brand of Buc-ee’s,” said Harry Williams, mayor of the city of Hardeeville.

“At the intersection of Highways 278 and 17 and is bordered on one side by I-95,” Williams said.

That’s an area that residents say often has a lot of traffic.

One of those residents emailed the council and at Thursday night’s meeting, council member Valarie Guzman read those concerns.

“With this plan in potential development and the potential for the travel center, I have serious concerns about the concentration of vehicle traffic and the traffic that is about to reach the 278, 17 area,” Guzmán said.

The mayor also addressed this concern by saying the plan for Buc-ee’s is part of his master plan that includes widening I-95 and making changes to a nearby exit.

“SCDOT will begin expanding in the spring of 2025,” Williams said. “The first phase of the plan is to go from the state line to mile marker nine, which is just after exit eight.”

The overall project is expected to take about three years, with construction of Buc-ee scheduled to align with these developments.

“And at the same time, Buc-ee’s will plan its construction so that the expansion, the changes to Exit Eight and the opening of Buc-ee’s will open that day,” Mayor Williams said.

Mayor Williams expressed excitement about the new opportunities and jobs the project will bring to the area.

For more details on the master plan, see the document below:

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