Convenience Store Prevails on Appeal After Indiana Department of Transportation Refused to Recognize Loss-of-Access Damages

Faegre Drinker represented a convenience store whose deeded access rights were taken without compensation during Indiana’s construction of Interstate 69. Faegre filed an appeal after the trial court ruled on summary judgment that the State’s closure of access was not compensable as a matter of law because, albeit inconvenient, alternative access was being provided for the convenience store. On appeal, Faegre attorneys successfully argued to the Indiana Court of Appeals that the trial court’s decision failed to properly account for specific access that was reserved for it in a deed from 1971. The Indiana Supreme Court denied the State’s request for transfer, and the convenience store was able to pursue a large damages claim for its loss of access.