I have property on both side of the highway. The state of Kentucky will be acquiring Right of Way for highway widening. They will take approximately 50’ on each side of the highway for length of the properties, a few hundred feet. They also want about an acre at one end on one side.
Any thoughts on what to expect on the first offer and the likelihood of getting a higher offer if I’m disappointed? Any downfalls of asking for a higher offer?

No idea on KY laws, but I would imagine that eminent domain requires fair market value.

It happened to my family on our farm for a causeway widening project. We took the first offer which wasn't much, then again the loss of farmable land was minimal. The folks on the other side of the bridge held out and did much better, and they used their portion for seasonal pasture. (A friend from high school was the purchasing agent for the state. (would have been nice to have a heads up there, Jeff).
I would not take the first offer, but don't hold out long enough for them to take it and tell what they feel it's worth.
A game of chicken....

Good luck!
OZ

Get an appraisal.

Back of the envelope - assuming 200 ft long right of way and 100 feet out of your property (50ft on each side) that's 20,000 sq. ft. for the right of way, about a half-acre. Adding the acre on the one side, they want around 2 acres.

Go on zillow.com or realtor.com and look up listings for raw land for sale near you. That'll get you data you can use as an estimate of the current per-acre going rate.

Now, if there's anything special about the property (views, location, etc.) that could boost it over generic raw land values.

For more accurate numbers, get an appraisal. When you get an eminent-domain offer from the state, if it's way under the appraisal, take the appraisal to a local attorney and turn them loose.

On a related note, I suggest you look to keep the mineral and water rights, assuming you have them. You never know what's under there and the state doesn't need those rights to build a road.

It shouldn't be less than what they tax you on it.

I would be concerned about possible drop in value for your whole lot based on the fact they are going to build a wider highway next to it... don't know the details. Is there housing involved here or just farm land?

Only experience I have is friend of a friend got eminent domained, his small lot / modest house, the whole thing got bought out by the state to expand bypass of highway... He was not really upset. BUT, ended up VERY happy in the end. They paid him out (Very fairly he said), lets say month-1, but he got to live there for almost 2 more years (Rent and tax free)! I guess the moral here is think about or look into you can still use the land while .gov takes their time doing what they are going to do.

I think we’re going the wrong way with this.

How much cash do you have on hand?
You can do one of two things depending on how much you want to spend.

Toll booths!
“Welcome to the Jed7 Tollway”

You can employ friends and family to man the toll booths, make extra cash then go for the automated ones, or if you have enough cash, go right for the fully automated ones.

Depending on traffic conditions, probably pay for itself in a few months, everything after is profit!

The taxable value is a bit lower than fresh appraisal. The narrow strips they want are unusable for anything residential except buffer space. I assume they will offer little more than the taxable value of the 2-3 acre acquisition. Nearby residential or vacant wooded ground runs from $90k per lot in a subdivision to $23k an acre for land. I want more than vacant land price due to the appraisal pricing it at $30k an acre, but even that feels like half its value to me.
I guess time will tell.

You may want to look into diminishod value on remaining property just like a acdent on a car repair lessens resale value.