First Wisconsin Buc-ee delayed as $15M highway cost-sharing in question ‘challenging’

Plans for a Buc-ee convenience store between Madison and Wisconsin Dells include a $15 million 39/90/94 interstate interchange upgrade – with Buc-ee’s request to split project costs between the company and taxpayers – and the request made the timeline for starting construction uncertain.

Buc-ee’s is offering to spend up to $8.1 million to build a new 39/90/94 interstate interchange in DeForest in northern Dane County, according to a proposal to city officials. New development is called for at the V county interchange, with the popular convenience store and other new developments drastically increasing traffic in the area.

DeForest Village Administrator Bill Chang said Wednesday that the funding proposal was a “challenging number” for the village, which is exploring financing through such means as a fiscal improvement district.

The Buc-ee facility is outside of any current tax improvement districts in the village, Chang said. The village is also hampered by a state law that limits its ability to develop a current tax improvement district or create a new one and include the Buc-ee site, he said.

“It’s a big task, something that generally a community our size wouldn’t be prepared to take on,” Chang said. “(The fiscal improvement district) can help with public improvements. … That’s a policy decision by the village board.”

The negotiations will delay the construction start date initially planned for this summer, Chang said. He said the proposal was “very early in the process” and that DeForest will have to conduct its own analysis of the Buc-ee proposal.

Chang noted that the interchange, with an interstate highway and a county highway, is outside the village’s jurisdiction, raising other funding questions.

“So the question is…should the village bear the full brunt of this?” he said. “There’s not, per se, a number that we would feel comfortable with. It just depends on who all the players are.”

Buc-ee’s announced plans for its first Wisconsin location in early 2023, resulting in a lot of emotion. Part of this is due due to its size and reputation – the 75,000-square-foot convenience store would have about 120 gas pumps, for example, and it is expected to be an important center for the travel trade.

The proposed cost sharing agreement was discussed at a June 18 DeForest Village Board meeting in closed session. In an email, Chang said no action was taken during or after the session ended.

Buc-ee’s has not yet submitted an application for approval for a site plan, a document that gets the green light from local authorities before construction authorization is given. Chang said funding for the infrastructure project will likely have to be paid off before that happens.

The story continues

Buc-ee’s previously told the Journal Sentinel that the company hoped to begin construction this summer.

In a memo, Stan Beard, Buc-ee’s real estate director, wrote that the proposal is in line with the company’s agreements in other states “where existing transportation infrastructure is not suitable for a Buc-ee.”

“The scenario obviously requires ‘others’ to share in the remaining 46.33% of the cost,” says Berard’s memo. “I have no doubt that the economic impact of this Buc-ee project will provide a significant return on this investment for many years to come. We have too many successful examples to think otherwise.”

More: What’s the deal with Buc-ee’s, the gas station chain that’s coming to Wisconsin? Let this native Texan tell you.

The Buc-ee memo details that a traffic analysis by engineering firm Kimley-Horn showed that 53.67% of the interchange’s total traffic volume would come from the convenience store by 2034.

The proposed interchange improvements would create a divergent diamond interchange, according to the memo. DeForest’s Chang said the Wisconsin Department of Transportation agrees that if the Buc-ee comes, the interchange would need to be upgraded.

The interstate corridor is under study by the Wisconsin Department of Transportation and, without Buc-ee development, is planned for less extensive upgrades.

“As a result of this work, the parties ultimately agreed that the Interchange Project is necessary to the operational integrity of the Buc-ee Project and anticipated future growth of the areas surrounding this intersection,” the Buc-ee memo reads.

This article originally appeared in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: First Wisconsin Buc-ee’s in DeForest postponed as cost sharing is in question