Addition to planned Buc-ee's will tower 100 feet over Baytown

Some of the cool and crazy things you can buy at Buc-ee's

It's not a real Texas road trip without a stop into Buc-ee's. Here's some of the things we saw for sale at the Buc-ee's in Luling on a recent trip. Some of the cool and crazy things you can buy at Buc-ee's

It's not a real Texas road trip without a stop into Buc-ee's. Here's some of the things we saw for sale at the Buc-ee's in Luling on a recent trip. Photo: Brett Mickelson Photo: Brett Mickelson Image 1 of / 42 Caption Close Addition to planned Buc-ee's will tower 100 feet over Baytown 1 / 42 Back to Gallery

A new Buc-ee's in Baytown is changing the city in more ways than just bringing Beaver Nuggets and jerky to the teeming masses.



According to Baytown City Manager Bob Leiper, the city of Baytown will begin working on widening a part of nearby John Martin Road at I-10 where the mega gas station is taking root.



The location is scheduled to open by November, just in time for holiday travel.



The size of the intersection seemed troublesome to locals when the project was initially announced last summer. On Tuesday, Leiper said that the "minor" enhancement will add a third lane to John Martin, a turning lane, to facilitate traffic flowing into Buc-ee's.



Leiper said the new lane is just the start; Baytown and Harris County are in talks to do even more work to John Martin in the future.



"We had been planning a realignment since 2006 but the plans were a temporary casualty of the recession," said Leiper.



Baytown's city council approved the expansion last week, Leiper said, when they authorized the hiring of the engineer. They also approved the Buc-ee's proposal for a larger, taller 100-foot sign to beckon customers from the road. Leiper fought to make sure the sign also included Baytown in the logo, in an effort to co-brand the roadside attraction with the town.



The chain of roadside gas stations and travel centers will be adding four new locations within a year, including this one. The company is the brainchild of owners Arch "Beaver" Aplin III and Don Wasek and based in Lake Jackson.



The Baytown location will be over 60,000 square feet, sit on 18 acres and boast 96 gas pumps. That's about twice as large as the Buc-ee's location in Madisonville halfway between Dallas and Houston and bigger than most other locations. The biggest location is the one in New Braunfels.



Aplin credits Baytown city leaders for being proactive when it came to welcoming Buc-ee's to Baytown. This location will bring in approximately 200 mostly full-time jobs to the city of Baytown.



Leiper and Aplin are also collaborating on incorporating a Baytown visitor's center into the location so that when people stop they can also get information about things to do and see around town.



Are some Baytown residents worried about smaller gas stations being gobbled up by Buc-ee's? If they are, he hasn't heard from them, said Leiper.

"We've had no complaints and gotten a tremendous response from residents," said Leiper. "A few people are worried about traffic but this should help out."