You're correct that it puts the leverage in the hands of the original Landowner and that's the point... that's how I think it should be. And in the long term it would, I believe, sort itself out without heavy handed government strong arming.

It's likely obvious to me, you and everyone with a mind that there are profound community benefits to being able to make that commute... and because of that the original owner should be able to hold out for the highest value possible until another alternative becomes more economically viable.

The idea that at any given time your families 3rd generation farm could be split up for a highway and you get paid out by a less than honest brokers appraisal with little to no recourse is asinine to me and akin to a serfdom dystopia.

The only middle ground I could maybe concede on this on a principled level is if somehow your private property was like a national security blindspot... IE your farm in Maine on the border is a strategically important foothold for a bloodthirsty Canadian invasion.

Outside of that wildly extreme scenario I am of the philosophy I owe you and you owe me literally nothing nor either of us have a right to acquire each others respective properties without consent.