New Kent interchange improvement project near upcoming Buc-ee’s now fully funded

The I-64 interchange at Exit 211 in New Kent is slated to be reconfigured into a diverging diamond and receive other improvements amid growing development interest in the interchange’s vicinity. (BizSense file)

A $94 million interchange improvement project in New Kent County is now able to shift into gear, thanks to recent funding commitments from Virginia’s governor and a Texas beaver.

Gov. Glenn Youngkin announced this week a $20 million allocation toward building a diverging diamond interchange and other improvements at Exit 211 on Interstate 64.

The money from the Transportation Partnership Opportunity Fund, which the governor can tap to support major economic development projects, provides the final bit needed for the interchange overhaul that’s intended to accommodate the anticipated traffic from what’s shaping up to be a commercial hub in New Kent.

The governor’s announcement followed a recent financial commitment from coveted Texas-based beaver-logoed convenience store and gas station chain Buc-ee’s, which is planning to open one of its massive locations just off the exit, to help cover the cost of the interchange project.

Amy Inman, New Kent’s transportation development director, said that Buc-ee’s earlier this month agreed to contribute $17.5 million toward the project.

The changes planned for the Talleysville and Roxbury exit includes the reconfiguration of the interchange into a diverging diamond. The design features travel lanes that temporarily cross sides with the intention to better facilitate traffic flow.

There would also be a new two-lane bridge over the interstate, which along with an existing bridge, which is underway on a separate and funded replacement project, would create a four-lane divided road for that section of Route 106.

Signals would be placed on Route 106’s intersections with the I-64 ramps, as well as a shared-use path on Route 106 from Jimmy Burrell Lane to the roundabout near the county’s welcome center.

The Buc-ee’s store planned on the north side of the interchange is just one of several large projects in the works there.

Minneapolis-based retail giant Target is planning a 1.4 million-square-foot distribution center in the New Kent City Center industrial park, which is to the south of the interchange and home to an 800,000-square-foot AutoZone distribution facility. Last year, Maryland-based developer Matan Cos. spent $15 million to acquire nearly 300 acres at the north end of the mostly undeveloped industrial park to build warehouses.

“We have so much economic development activity that’s happening just south of the interchange,” Inman said. “There’s a lot of pressure for access, accessing that site and those jobs, that we want to be prepared for.”

Meanwhile, north of the interchange, work is underway on the mixed-use development called the Farms of New Kent, which is planned to have up to 2,500 residential units and 225,000 square feet of commercial space, according to the governor’s news release.

Other sources of funding being marshaled for the interchange project include $18.2 million from the state’s Smart Scale program, nearly the same amount from the Central Virginia Transportation Authority and $20 million from New Kent.

In addition to the creation of a diverging diamond interchange, improvements would be made to Route 106, which runs across the interstate.

Previously, the plan was to complete some interim improvements and a portion of the project in a $75.2 million phase, with a later phase of improvements to follow. But recent success in securing funds has led officials to plan to complete the entire $94 million project in one phase, Inman said.

Inman said that a start date for construction of the interchange project hasn’t been set but now that the money is fully lined up, officials are able and eager to move forward with the improvements.

“With this new funding strategy, we’ll have the ability to advance with the entire project,” Inman said. “We will do everything we can to advance the project as swiftly as possible, but it is a large project and these things will take a few years to have it come to completion.”

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