Another truck stop may be coming to south Bibb County

A second truck stop is planned at the Sardis Road interchange in south Bibb County.

QuikTrip Corp., a privately held company based in Tulsa, Okla. is planning to build a travel center in the 4900 block of Sardis Church Road, across the street from the massive Amazon fulfillment center still under construction. The company is seeking a conditional-use permit from the Macon-Bibb County Planning & Zoning Commission during its meeting, which will be held Tuesday since Monday is Veteran’s Day.

Plans call for a 7,719-square-foot convenience store with eight double-sided gasoline pumps and six diesel pumps on a 7-acre site. It is listed as being at 4954, 4948 and 4934 Sardis Church Road with a portion of 7234 S. Nowell Road. It is expected to have 10-15 truck parking spaces.

Michael Burk, real estate project manager with QuikTrip, said the zoning process is just one of several the company must go through before construction can begin. It must also work with the state and local departments of transportation, the water authority and others.

“We’re looking at probably 2020” before completion, if everything goes well, Burk said.

The zoning staff has requested from the Middle Georgia Regional Commission, a Development of Regional Impact study be done on the project.

A regional impact study is requested by the regional commission when a project is so large it may affect other communities. If the commission determines it is a project of regional impact, other area governments are given an opportunity to comment about the project and how it may affect them. A request for a report does not automatically mean the project will move forward, but it is a step in the process.

The lots on Sardis Church Road have a residence on each of them, and they would either be demolished or moved if they can be relocated, Burk said.

“There were a lot of factors involved” in choosing the location, Burk said. “Amazon, of course, helps, but there is a whole lot of big math formulas that goes into where we chose to locate.”

The center would be located east of I-75, across the interstate from Love’s Travel Center which opened in April 2017.

The next closest QuikTrip Travel Center is at Ellenwood, a southest surburb of Atlanta.

The company was founded in 1958 and the $11 billion company has more than 750 stores in 11 states, with more than 20,000 employees, according to the company’s website.

This story was originally published November 5, 2018 at 5:05 PM.