FDOT Is Buying Right-of-Way on U.S. 319 in Leon County: What Landowners in the Corridor Should Know Now

Two-lane stretch of U.S. 319 (Crawfordville Road) in south Leon County with pine trees and a rural driveway sign in view, ahead of a planned four-lane widening

The Florida Department of Transportation has programmed approximately $7.3 million in fiscal year 2026 to acquire right-of-way for the widening of U.S. 319 (State Road 369 / Crawfordville Road) in Leon County. The segment runs about 1.69 miles from the Wakulla County line north to south of L.L. Wallace Road, and will take the roadway from two lanes to four. Construction is not yet funded — the current estimate is roughly $48 to $57 million — but the right-of-way phase is real, and it is now.

If your home, farm, business, driveway, well, septic, sign, fence line, or timber sits along this corridor, an FDOT letter, appraisal call, or written offer may be closer than you think.

This article walks through what "right-of-way acquisition" actually means at this stage, the order of events an owner should expect, how compensation is calculated on a Florida widening, and the practical steps to take before you sign anything.

What FDOT Has Actually Funded

The U.S. 319 widening in south Leon County has been on the Capital Region Transportation Planning Agency's priority list for years and is now moving into a fundable phase. Based on the current FDOT District 3 work program and CRTPA documentation:

Segment. U.S. 319 / SR 369 / Crawfordville Road, from the Wakulla County line north to south of L.L. Wallace Road — approximately 1.69 miles in Leon County.
Improvement. Widening from two lanes to four lanes, with associated drainage, intersection work, and utility relocations typical of an FDOT four-lane rural-to-suburban corridor.
Right-of-way funding. Approximately $7.3 million programmed in FY 2026 for right-of-way acquisition on this segment.
Construction status. Construction is not yet funded. Current construction estimates fall roughly in the $48–$57 million range and remain outside the current five-year work program.
Adjoining segment. A separate segment from L.L. Wallace Road to south of SR 61 is programmed for future right-of-way and construction funding as the corridor is built out in phases.

The practical takeaway: FDOT can knock on the doors of parcels in this segment during the FY 2026 program year to begin appraisals, negotiations, and — where necessary — condemnation. Waiting for construction dust to appear is waiting too long.

What "Right-of-Way Acquisition" Actually Looks Like

On a Florida FDOT project, the right-of-way phase is not one letter. It is a structured sequence, and each step has consequences for what an owner can later recover:

Notice of interest. A general project mailing or personal contact identifying that your parcel is affected and that surveys, environmental checks, and appraisals will follow.
Entry for survey and testing. Requests to enter the property for surveys, boring, tree tagging, or drainage measurements — typically under Florida Statutes chapters 337 and 73 authority.
Independent appraisal. An FDOT-retained appraiser inspects your property and prepares a written appraisal supporting the state's offer number.
Written offer of judgment. A written offer citing the appraised value for the land taken and, where applicable, severance damages, cost-to-cure items, and business damages.
Negotiation window. A period, sometimes measured in weeks, to accept, counter, or refuse. This is the highest-leverage moment for an owner to bring in independent counsel.
Order of taking petition. If no settlement, FDOT files a condemnation petition and moves for an order of taking, depositing an estimate of good-faith value. Once entered, the order transfers possession and title to FDOT and starts the clock on the compensation trial.
Jury trial on full compensation. A Florida jury — not FDOT — decides the final compensation. The state's number becomes a floor, not a ceiling.

Every one of these steps generates documents. Every document either builds or erodes an owner's compensation record. Owners who wait until the order of taking to seek counsel usually forfeit weeks of preserved evidence and negotiation leverage.

Full vs. Partial Takings on a Widening

Very few U.S. 319 owners will lose their entire parcel. On a widening, the typical acquisition is a partial taking — a strip along the existing right-of-way, sometimes combined with drainage or slope easements, temporary construction easements, and access modifications. That distinction matters. Under Florida eminent domain law, when the state takes part of your parcel, it must pay for two categories of loss:

The value of the land and improvements actually taken. Not just square footage — the specific rights, improvements, timber, wells, signs, fencing, driveways, and structures inside the acquisition line.
Severance damages to your remaining property. The reduction in market value that the remainder suffers because of the taking and the completed project — loss of frontage, changed access, closer traffic, drainage changes, buffer loss, or the reduction of a working farm or business site to something that no longer functions as it did.

Common Crawfordville Road corridor issues that show up as severance damages include:

Loss of setback and buffer between the widened highway and a house, barn, or business.
Changed or closed driveways, forced turnarounds, or newly restricted median access.
Drainage and stormwater changes, especially where new ditches, retention areas, or slope easements affect adjoining pasture, timber, or homesites.
Utility relocations — power, water, communications — that require reconfiguring service to the home or business.
Loss of highway visibility for signs and businesses that rely on being seen from U.S. 319.

These are not "extras." They are compensable in Florida when properly documented and presented.

Business Damages for Corridor Businesses

If your property is used to operate a business — a farm operation, a landscaping yard, a repair shop, a small retail or service business — Florida gives you an additional right that many owners never hear about from the state's appraiser. Under Florida Statutes section 73.071(3)(b), when a partial taking causes damage to a business that has operated on the property for a defined period, the business owner may recover business damages above and beyond the land value.

Business damages are proven with accounting and expert testimony — profit-and-loss records, tax returns, industry data, and testimony from an accountant or business damages expert. They are frequently the largest component of a corridor case and are also the category most likely to be minimized in the state's initial offer.

If you operate any business on U.S. 319 in the affected segment, the single most valuable step you can take right now is to gather clean records for the last several years and preserve them where an expert can work with them later.

FDOT Pays Your Attorney's Fees — Under Florida Statute § 73.092

This is the point most Florida landowners do not know, and it changes the math of hiring counsel entirely. Under Florida Statutes section 73.092, when FDOT is the condemning authority, your attorney's fees are paid by FDOT, not out of your recovery. Reasonable appraisal fees and, where business damages are compensable, accounting fees are also paid by the petitioner under section 73.091.

Section 73.092 sets the fee formula based on the "benefits achieved" for the property owner — meaning the difference between FDOT's last written offer before you hire counsel and the final judgment or settlement — on the following schedule:

33% of any benefit up to $250,000, plus
25% of any portion of the benefit between $250,000 and $1,000,000, plus
20% of any portion of the benefit above $1,000,000.

Two consequences follow directly from that statute:

Hiring counsel does not reduce your recovery. The fee is paid separately by FDOT, on top of the compensation for your land and damages.
Timing matters. The "benefit" is measured against the state's last written offer before you hire an attorney. Owners who negotiate on their own, accept a written increase, and only then bring in counsel can quietly reduce the base against which their attorney's fees are calculated. Bringing counsel in before responding to the first written offer preserves the full benefit calculation.

In practical terms: on an FDOT corridor project like U.S. 319, there is almost no scenario in which a landowner is financially better off negotiating alone.

What to Do the Week the First Letter Arrives

If a project mailing, appraisal request, or written offer shows up in your mailbox, a few disciplined steps make a real difference:

Keep every mailing. Envelope, letter, maps, right-of-entry forms, and any signature request. Keep them together in one file with dates.
Do not sign the first offer, right-of-entry, or waiver without independent review. Anything you sign becomes part of the record and can affect later valuation.
Document your property. Take dated photos of your frontage, driveways, signs, fences, wells, septic, drainage, timber, structures, and business improvements. Locate your survey. Note any prior flooding or access issues.
Pull your operating records if you have a business. Three to five years of P&Ls, tax returns, and any bookkeeping the corridor business generates.
Ask FDOT — in writing — for the plan sheets and appraisal. You are entitled to see the acquisition line and the appraisal supporting the state's offer.
Note every deadline. Response windows in FDOT letters are short. Missed windows can trigger an order of taking on the state's terms.
Bring in an eminent domain attorney before you respond in writing. Under section 73.092, this is also the moment that locks in how your attorney's fees will later be calculated.

Common Mistakes on Corridor Projects

Every widening produces the same pattern of avoidable owner mistakes. The most common ones on Florida FDOT corridors include:

Signing a right-of-entry form without reading the scope. Some forms authorize more than a walkthrough. Language on tree removal, boring, and temporary use should be reviewed before signing.
Accepting the first written offer as "fair market value." The state's number is the state's number. It is a starting position, not the market's answer.
Negotiating past several offers before hiring counsel. This reduces the "benefit" base under section 73.092 and shrinks the statutory fee — meaning fewer attorneys will take the file, and the owner has fewer options.
Ignoring severance damages and business damages. Owners routinely leave the largest components of their compensation on the table because no one told them those categories existed.
Assuming the appraisal is neutral. The state's appraiser is retained by the state. An independent appraisal, and where relevant an independent accountant, often tells a very different story.

You Do Not Have to Wait for a Condemnation Filing

The highest-leverage moments for a Florida corridor landowner are almost always before a lawsuit is filed:

When the first project mailing arrives and you are still deciding whether to sign a right-of-entry.
When the appraisal is delivered and it becomes possible to compare the state's number to the market and to your business records.
When the first written offer is made and Florida Statutes section 73.092 begins measuring "benefits" from that number forward.

Each of these has short timelines. A conversation early on is typically the least expensive step you will take in the entire process — and, because FDOT pays reasonable attorney's fees under section 73.092, it does not come out of your recovery.

Serving Property Owners on U.S. 319 and Across Florida

Loper Law Group, P.A. is a Florida law firm focused on property rights, eminent domain, inverse condemnation, Bert Harris, and real estate and title matters — including FDOT corridor projects, drainage and access impacts, business damages, and construction-phase damage claims. The firm serves landowners along U.S. 319 (Crawfordville Road) in Leon and Wakulla counties, the greater Tallahassee area, and throughout Florida.

If a project mailing, appraisal request, right-of-entry form, or written offer has arrived for your U.S. 319 property, consider getting the situation reviewed before a response deadline passes.