I’m writing right now from Corinth City Hall, where about a hundred people have lined up to voice their opinions for and against commercial development in their city. Each narrative is unique and does not grow repetitive at all. Especially not after several hours.

At issue is Buc-ee’s Travel Center, the organization that brought us the Beaver Nugget.

Buc-ee’s wants to build a store with 96 gas pumps at the soon-to-be expanded interchange at I-35E and Corinth Parkway. That really does seem like a lot of gas pumps, but really, all Buc-ee’s wants to do is sell you some delicious (and nutritious, too, on account of they’re made of corn) Beaver Nuggets.

Update! At 11:48 p.m., Buc-ee’s owner addresses the need for 96 gas pumps. He says he needs them because people fill up their tank and then go inside and linger a lot longer than at most gas stations.

First, let’s consider the economic impact:

If there had been a Buc-ee’s in Corinth, I’d have stopped there for a soda this afternoon instead of the QuikTrip in Lake Dallas. That’s two percent of $1.79 that would have gone straight in Corinth’s operating fund. And when you consider that I buy a soda about twice a week, add up all those two percents and whoa, Nelly!

In fact, I spend a lot of time at QuikTrip locations scattered across the Metroplex, even though most of the time I don’t buy a soda and just park outside while I work on my laptop.

The head of QuikTrip should be at this meeting speaking out against Buc-ee’s. He stands to lose the most in this deal, at least in terms of me walking inside, using the restroom, not buying anything, taking up a parking space for several hours and then maybe using the restroom one more time before I head home.

Let’s also look at the impact on the surrounding neighborhood:

A few months ago, the founder of Buc-ee’s held a community meeting where people gasped when he showed the illustrations of the rebuilt interchange. I’m not kidding, either. Audible gasps.

TxDot had been floating those schematics around for a couple of years, but it seems like a lot of people weren’t paying attention then. They had to find out from a guy named Beaver.

Now, there’s a bunch of people yelling “Not in my backyard!” I suspect the plan wasn’t to build an eight lane road and then not have anything else around it. Someone’s about to move into your backyard, so why not 96 gas pumps?

If Buc-ee’s wanted to build in my backyard, I’d be all for it! Imagine looking at the clock, realizing it’s 3 a.m. and you just spent four hours watching reruns of Wings on Netflix. You could just wander out back of the house and there’d be a cashier waiting to sell you a refreshing Zagnut. Talk about luxury!

[An aside: if you feel another candy bar would have been more hilarious, feel free to shoot me a message]

If you’re worried about traffic, the time to get angry would have been two years ago when TxDot first started posting conceptual drawings of the completed interchange.

Update! At 1:05 a.m., the city council votes 3-2 against Buc-ee’s. QuikTrip must have been waiting in the back with some donuts when the council took its last recess.

The takeaway here is that while Buc-ee’s may seem like the sexier issue, you need to keep an eye on what the transportation department is doing. If you don’t, you’ll come home one night and find that TxDot has bulldozed your house and replaced it with a toll road.

It’s like I always say: there’s nothing sexier than responsible governance of transportation infrastructure.