Hold that check.

• Author: Martin, Edward
• Position: STATEWIDE: Triad

Finally, Gene Kirby could breathe easier. Last summer, the N.C. Supreme Court ruled the state unconstitutionally took 40 acres from him for a planned Forsyth County highway, without paying. He'd bought it decades earlier, with a vision. "My son would grow up, become my partner, and we'd develop it." He was 82, but he'd at last be paid, with interest. A year later, he hasn't been.

More than 450 landowners like him statewide have sued. "Not a single one has received a nickel," says Matthew Bryant, Kirby's attorney, adding that the N.C. Department of Transportation has paid [dollar]2.4 million to outside attorneys who've delayed property-owner payments through appeals.

The 1987 Transportation Corridor Official Map Act, intended to prevent development in the path of highways, allowed the state to ban all but minor improvements to businesses to keep land values from escalating ("Road closures," April 2016). But many highway plans languish, unfunded since the 1960s, and property owners contend they're stuck with land they cannot sell or develop, without any compensation.

The DOT estimates about 4,400 properties are affected, worth about [dollar]500 million...