County of Bexar v. Santikos

In this condemnation action, we again address whether severance damages are recoverable when property is taken as a part of a project to raise a roadway above the natural grade. The question is a recurring one, 1 as the growth of controlled-access highways necessarily requires that, at intersections with other major arteries, one road or the other must change grades.

This case presents the issue in a new context — a roadway on the edge of the Texas Hill Country. As the name indicates, the region is not flat, and some properties are necessarily higher than others. Building a highway along the…