Commonwealth, Department of Highways v. Roberts

PALMORE, Chief Justice.

This is a “partial taking” condemnation case in which a strip of land fronting on an existing public highway was taken for purposes of reconstruction and widening. One of the effects of the project was an increase in the grade level of the highway above the remaining property of the landowners, some of which had been on the same level with the road before the taking but is now several feet below it. This circumstance was a substantial factor in the estimates of value placed upon the remainder property by expert witnesses for the landowners. The highway department…