Ruston breaks ground on Buc-ee's to make way for the Beaver in Louisiana
Buc-ee's is one step closer to bringing the Beaver to Ruston after the city broke ground on its infrastructure project to support the new travel center, which has a cult-like following among travelers.
"We're on the move," Ruston Mayor Ronny Walker said in an interview with USA Today Network. "We can't wait."
The city's $8 million infrastructure project to improve the Tarbutton Road Interstate 20 interchange for the Buc-ee's campus will widen Tarbutton to five lanes to accommodate the anticipated increase in traffic.
Walker said the company projects 15,000 vehicles a day stopping at Buc-ee's with 80% coming from 200 miles or more away.
"We were in Laurel, Miss., last week and when people found out we were from Ruston they were asking about Buc-ee's," Walker said.
Ruston will later will extend the service road to connect with the I-20 Grambling interchange in Phase 2.
"It's going to be a tremendous boost not just for Ruston and Grambling, but for the entire region," Walker said.
Walker said Buc-ee's is expected to break ground on its campus around May 1.
Ruston will finish its $8 million infrastructure project to improve the Tarbutton Road Interstate 20 interchange in 10 to 12 months, while construction of the Buc-ee's will take 12 to 15 months, the mayor said.
Buc-ee's, with its toothy Beaver mascot, has developed a loyal following among travelers who consider the stores tourism destinations rather than just giant convenience stores.
Every Buc-ee's has a wide variety of meat jerky, roasted nuts, and other culinary delights, like the signature Buc-ee's Beaver Nuggets (similar to caramel popcorn), fudge, brisket, and sausage on a stick, and is also known for immaculate bathrooms.
Ruston's Buc-ee's will employ at least 200 people at $18 to $20 per hour with benefits.
The Lake Jackson, Texas-headquartered company has more than 40 stores in seven southern states and Colorado, but none in Louisiana. A new Buc-ee's is also being built in Lafayette.
Buc-ee's owner Arch "Beaver" Aplin III's grandparents lived in Harrisonburg, La., and he often spent summers there as a child.
"For our family, opening a Buc-ee's in Louisiana is like coming home," Aplin said in a previous statement to USA Today Network. "We are very excited about Buc-ee's coming to Ruston."
Ruston's City Council, the Lincoln Parish School Board and Lincoln Parish Police Jury approved a tax incentive package that set the project in motion in 2022.
More: Buc-ee's origin story began in Louisiana at a general store in tiny Harrisonburg
Greg Hilburn covers state politics for the USA TODAY Network of Louisiana. Follow him on Twitter @GregHilburn1.
This article originally appeared on Shreveport Times: Ruston breaks ground on Buc-ee's project in Louisiana
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
USA Today
an hour ago
- USA Today
Beyoncé fans brave scorching heat for Houston hometown kickoff of 'Cowboy Carter' tour
Beyoncé Knowles-Carter is to set to light up Houston during the next stop of her "Cowboy Carter" tour. And fans are already braving scorching temperatures to witness the hometown opener. The Grammy-winning singer will launch her first concert in her hometown of Houston at NRG Stadium June 28. The show will mark her first Southern stop on her Cowboy Carter and the Rodeo Chitlin' Circuit Tour. She is poised to perform two nights only on June 28 and June 29. From the United States to Europe, Beyoncé and her fans have powered through severe weather conditions, including an evacuation, cold temperatures and pouring rain to experience her concerts. In Houston, it was the heat they had to beat with the first show landing on a scorching 91-degree day. Despite this, fans swarmed the stadium grounds ahead of the show--some lining up early to secure spots in the VIP pits and others enduring the sun for a chance at merchandise. Bridget and Meghan Ryan traveled to Houston from Wisconsin to see Beyoncé in concert for the first time. After several flight delays and scheduling hiccups, the sisters were determined to snag official merchandise ahead of Saturday's show. Like many other fans, they ended up standing in a long line in the heat. "We're both from the Midwest, so the humidity is a little extra than what we're used to. I figured staying hydrated would be a good plan,' said Bridget Ryan. "I think it was a come hell or high water kind of situation. Whatever the weather was going to do we were going to show." Their determination didn't stop there. "We even talked about if we don't get any today after sitting outside maybe we'll come back tomorrow and try the truck again,' Meghan Ryan said. The H-Town stop comes after Beyoncé wrapped the international leg of her tour – first with a six-night stint in London, followed by three dazzling nights in Paris. Of course, Beyoncé first debuted her "Cowboy Carter" tour at SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles on April 28 with a 39-song set list. Her shows have been filled with family, fashion, different music genres, and most notably country music and cultural commentary. As fans know, Beyoncé first debuted her "Cowboy Carter" tour at SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles on April 28 with 39 songs on the set list. Her shows have been filled with family, fashion, different music genres, and most notably country music and cultural commentary. The nine-city tour will span the U.S. and Europe with the grand finale taking place in Las Vegas on July 26. Follow Caché McClay, the USA TODAY Network's Beyoncé Knowles-Carter reporter, on Instagram, TikTok and X as @cachemcclay.
Yahoo
2 hours ago
- Yahoo
Elon Musk's early birthday present to himself—the first Tesla just drove itself from its factory straight to the customer
In its second milestone in a week, Tesla arranged for a Model Y crossover to drive itself from its Texas factory to a customer in downtown Austin some 30 minutes away. It follows the successful launch of its robotaxi service this past Sunday. City officials, however, told Fortune they had no choice in the matter: 'the City does not have the authority to regulate these vehicles.' Tesla celebrated a historic first on Friday when a new Model Y left the factory in Austin and—without anyone in the vehicle—drove itself to a waiting customer a half-hour away. Already the second milestone this week after the commercial deployment of his robotaxi service, it marks an early birthday present for CEO Elon Musk. The entrepreneur had promised it to Tesla supporters for June 28, which is coincidentally when he turns 54 years old. 'The first fully autonomous delivery of a Tesla Model Y from factory to a customer home across town, including highways, was just completed a day ahead of schedule,' Musk posted on Friday. 'There were no people in the car at all and no remote operators in control at any point. FULLY autonomous.' Since this is completely unsupervised full-self driving (FSD) in its first-ever practical application for the brand, Tesla uploaded a video as proof. It documents from various angles the roughly 30-minute drive from the Austin factory to 1515 S. Lamar Blvd. downtown, where its new owner took possession. Whether this delivery is just a one-off test or part of a broader plan to revamp distribution remains unclear. While it might in theory save on at least part of the $1,390 destination fee Tesla charges, it risks scratching or denting the vehicle in transit—or even just arriving at the customer dirty, looking like it had just been through a rainstorm. Additionally, the Model Y's range maxes out at an official 357 miles with real world tests indicating a lower range. Unless it could drive from one Tesla service center to the next, so that an employee could recharge it, the range would limit it to a radius inside Texas. Lastly, regulations on the ground could make it outright illegal as state governments currently determine under what conditions autonomous vehicles, if at all, can drive on their roads. In the case of Austin, for example, city officials told Fortune they had no say in what Musk's company did. 'Tesla made the City aware of their intent to deliver a fully autonomous vehicle,' a spokesman for the Texas state capital said. 'While the City does not have the authority to regulate these vehicles, we will continue to work with the company to provide feedback if public safety issues arise.' The autonomous delivery also elicited skepticism as to whether Tesla might be misleading people into believing the technology is more robust than it really is. Some pointed to the fact the video was not livestreamed, but rather uploaded later. In addition, the robotaxi service that began operation in Austin on Sunday still only operates during certain hours, does not drive to the airport, and features a safety monitor in the front passenger seat at all times. Moreover, the timing is advantageous, as Musk has been attempting to shift investor focus towards the rollout of his robotaxi technology and away from its struggling core business of selling EVs. This coming week, Tesla is expected to publish second-quarter global production and delivery figures that show a 14% decline in deliveries to 383,000 vehicles, according to the median estimate polled by the company's investor relations team. While a few skeptics are bound to remain mistrustful no matter what, the suspicion is rooted in part in experience. Nearly nine years ago, Tesla posted a similar demonstration when it released the 'Paint It Black' video. It claimed that a vehicle was driving entirely on its own and the human behind the wheel was not even there to monitor for safety. 'The person in the driver's seat is only there for legal reasons,' it stated in the video posted in October 2016. 'He is not doing anything. The car is driving itself.' Tesla's AI director Ashok Elluswamy later testified in a sworn deposition the footage was not meant to be an accurate representation of the technology. Both the video and the blog post have since been expunged entirely from Tesla's site, but thanks to YouTube and web archives they are still viewable. There was another, more recent example, as well. In October 2024, Musk showcased prototype robots interacting with human guests at an event without telling anyone they were tele-operated remotely by humans. Tesla didn't respond to a request for comment from Fortune. But Elluswamy, who has risen the ranks at Tesla since working on the 2016 video, denied there was any trickery with the self-driving delivery video on Friday. 'Literally chose a random customer who ordered a Model Y in the Austin area. Vehicle is exactly the same as every Model Y produced in the Tesla factory,' he replied to a question on X. This story was originally featured on Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Yahoo
3 hours ago
- Yahoo
TxDOT seeks feedback on $101.6 billion, 10-year plan
AUSTIN - Now's the time to weigh in on proposed projects in communities across the state. The Texas Department of Transportation is working on a new 10-year statewide transportation plan to meet the demand of a growing population and a thriving economy. What is the 10-year plan? The draft 2026 Unified Transportation Program includes an estimated $101.6 billion for projects statewide, with around $7.5 billion of new funding. This will be the third consecutive year the UTP exceeds $100 billion. Starting June 27, the public has the opportunity to provide feedback on the draft plan. 'Hearing from the public and collaborating with our transportation partners across the state will inform this plan to increase safety, meet the demand of a growing state and improve Texans' access to jobs, family and quality of life,' said TxDOT Executive Director Marc Williams. Updated each year, the UTP 'road map' guides project development to improve safety, address congestion and connectivity and preserve roadways for Texas drivers. It also includes public transportation, maritime, aviation, rail, freight, international trade and bicycle and pedestrian connectivity. How to provide feedback Public comments and feedback are important in developing the program. The comment period began Friday, June 27 and ends Monday, July 28, at 4 p.m. Visit the UTP Public Involvement webpage, to learn about ways to comment, including an online comment form available in English, Arabic, Cantonese, Hindi, Mandarin, Spanish and Vietnamese. TxDOT also invites the public to participate and offer comments on the draft 2026 UTP during a virtual public hearing on Wednesday, July 23, at 2 p.m. Anyone may join the hearing by phone or online at where you can also view the recorded presentations. The Texas Transportation Commission will consider approval of the UTP in accordance with Texas state law at its August commission meeting. The approved UTP will be published on
