By Ashley Ball
News 3 On Your Side
Robert Brazo has lived on Saint Mary's road for 45 years. News 3 On Your Side
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Stumble It!His house has seen three generations of children grow up, but in the past year the landscape of his longtime home has changed.
Brazo showed News three where his yard used to end, “Where the main road is that is where my property was.”
This project began in 2006. In order to make the road four lanes residents were forced to forfeit their yards, and they're still giving up inches.
Brazo says, “Now they put the sidewalk and stuff in, the right away is going come more up into my yard.”
Residents were reimbursed, but Brazo didn't like the number.
Brazo estimates, “Of course I am no expert but it is probably worth more than 50 cents a square foot.”
Fifty cents for 45 years.
This section of Saint Mary's was widened to help traffic flow, traffic that is now much closer to Robert Brazo's house, “That puts them a good thirty feet close to my bedrooms.”
The Georgia Department of Transportation is in charge of this portion of construction, however they were unavailable for comment today. The City Planning Department estimated construction on this section should be finished by the end of the summer. In the meantime Brazo is waiting to determine his new property value, “I figure I got cheated out of a lot of money but how are you going to buck city hall.”
The Department of Transportation and the City of Columbus will collaborate on the construction to come on Saint Mary's road.
