R+L Carriers Terminal Moves Forward on Buckhorn Flea Site

Mebane city officials confirmed that the technical review committee approved construction drawings for the first phase of a trucking and freight terminal that R+L Carriers of Wilmington, Ohio plans to build along Buckhorn Road. The approved first phase consists of a 135,950-square-foot trucking terminal with 202 doors and an associated maintenance building. The property sits off I-85/40, just over the Alamance County line inside Mebane’s extraterritorial jurisdiction.

The site closed permanently as a flea market during the summer of 2024, with vendors notified that Sunday, June 30, 2024 would be the last day of sales. Known locally as the Buckhorn jockey lot, the market operated on weekends for more than four decades and its closure removed a long-standing source of weekend income and informal commerce for many local residents.

The R+L Carriers project was enabled by Mebane’s 2024 rezoning and annexation of the property, and the parcel lies inside one of three economic development districts Orange County established in the early 1980s to attract non-residential investment. Utilities are in place: water, sewer and gas lines were extended to the property more than a decade ago, making the site development-ready from an infrastructure standpoint.

Preliminary plans presented in 2024 call for additional structures beyond the trucking terminal: a 233,740-square-foot warehouse distribution facility and a second 292,640-square-foot warehouse directly behind it. Those warehouse elements have not yet been reviewed or approved by the technical review committee. The developer must hold a preconstruction conference as the next formal step before ground work begins. Orange County officials say they have heard R+L Carriers plans to start site work in early spring 2026.

For Alamance County residents, the project brings both potential benefits and local concerns. The terminal’s location on a major interstate corridor could generate new jobs, increase the municipal tax base under Mebane jurisdiction and support regional logistics demand. At the same time, the shift from a weekend flea market to a 24/7 freight operation raises questions about truck traffic, road wear, noise and changes to the character of the Buckhorn Road area. With construction drawings approved for the first phase and site work potentially beginning in spring 2026, neighbors and local officials will face near-term decisions on traffic mitigation, permitting details and long-term land use in a corridor primed for industrial growth.