June and Dec. issues contain listings of periodicals.

An annual index to the monographs appears early in the following year.

Highway right-of-way costs have accelerated in recent years, especially in suburban and urban areas of Texas. Thus, further efforts are being made by Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) officials to find ways to reduce or hold down such costs. One of the efforts helped to enact a new law determining the compensation paid property owners for partial takings of right-of-way for highways. This law, subsequently declared unconstitutional by the Texas Supreme Court, allowed consideration of special or direct benefits arising from the highway improvement in awarding compensation for the taking or assessing damages to the remainder, and it did help to reduce right-of-way costs. The purchase of partial takings can cause some remainders to suffer considerable severance and/or proximity damages. The state only ga ns title to the partial taking, and the property owner keeps title to the remainder. Although enhancements can offset some of these damages, purchasing agencies are still paying many property owners more than the taking value. Often, small and irregularly shaped remainders are created and damaged to 100% of value (the whole property's value). This study seeks to determine which remainder characteristics significantly affect right-of-way costs. The more specific objectives of the study are to determine (1) the significant remainder property, access, and location characteristics that affect right-of-way costs and (V the effects of the 1984-87 right-of-way evaluation law on right-of-way costs. A thorough study of the literature; a mail survey of selected right-of-way fee appraisers, TxDOT appraisers and attorneys on the state attorney general's staff; the preparation and analysis of a sample of old remainder case histories developed by the Texas Transportation Institute and TxDOT during the 1960s; and the collection and analysis of a new sample of remainders created before, during, and after the new law was in effect are all being accomplished under the research plan. The new sample data cover three time periods: 1) January 1, 1974 to October 1, 1984, 2) October 1, 1984 to August 17, 1987, and 3) August 17, 1987 to December 31, 1991. The literature survey helped identify several important remainder characteristics to be tested. A total of 70 out of 91 persons surveyed responded and gave importance scores to a list of remainder characteristics. The top 10 or 12 characteristics were used in the regression models of the two data samples. The analysis of the sample of old remainder case histories identified several important characteristics related to the remainder, i.e., size, value, and use of whole property; remainder shape; value total damages paid; and proportion of taking. The analysis of the new database confirmed some of these findings and yield other characteristics, such as, method of acquisition, highway grade level, rural/urban location, type of highway access, split remainders and development limitations that significantly affect right-of-way cost. Also, analysis of the new database shows no significant difference in right-of-way costs due to a change in 1984 87 right-of-way evaluation law. Finally, an analysis of remainder sale data reveals that most remainders are not damaged. TxDOT can use the results of the study to help control and reduce right-of-way costs by 1) being able to closely monitor the appraisals of remainders of partial takings and 2) working closely with the TxDOT planning and design officials to avoid creating remainder properties that contribute significantly to right-of-way costs.