Condemnation Hierarchy—Competing Public Uses
State transportation departments
appear to have sufficient authority to take public-use
property for their highway and other transportation
projects. However, there are some kinds of public-use
property, such as parks and recreational areas, for
which a transportation department may need specific
statutory authority or legislative approval and/or must
comply with statutory conditions and requirements
before taking the public-use property.
The TRB National Cooperative Highway Research Program's
NCHRP Legal Research Digest 78: Condemnation Hierarchy—Competing Public Uses discusses four principal condemnation
hierarchies that may be applied to takings of property
for transportation projects.
The digest also includes three additional resources:
This Summary Last Modified On: 7/28/2023