Business · 2026-08-17

Buc-ee’s Opens a 128-Position Travel Center in San Marcos

The August 12 opening expands the chain’s presence along Interstate 35, with a city incentive agreement linking the project to investment and employment commitments.

Buc-ee’s opened its San Marcos travel center on August 12, bringing 128 fueling positions to the Interstate 35 corridor at Yarrington Road. The company had announced the opening in late July, describing a store of about 74,000 square feet roughly 20 miles north of its New Braunfels location. The San Antonio Express-News reported the company’s plans, and photographs from the opening document the August 12 event.

San Marcos supported the project through a 2024 economic development agreement that provides for payments equal to half the city’s sales tax revenue from the property for 15 years, subject to the agreement’s conditions. The document calls for at least $50 million in capital investment and a minimum of 175 full-time equivalent jobs within 12 months of the certificate of occupancy.

The agreement also requires the developer to install a rainwater reclamation system and oil-and-water separators for stormwater collected in a designated area. These provisions place specific environmental obligations alongside the city’s expectations for investment and tax revenue.

Operating the fuel system brings a separate set of state requirements. The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality requires motor-fuel UST facilities to display a current delivery certificate. For new or replacement tanks, temporary authorization expires 90 days after the first delivery, making registration and certification part of the transition from construction to operation.

Texas also requires recurring inspections and tests of spill and overfill equipment. TCEQ’s guidance distinguishes 30-day spill-equipment inspections from annual sump inspections and three-year testing requirements, with a monitoring alternative for qualifying double-walled equipment.