Woman, 76, faces losing home of 55 years after new plans for ‘highway expansion’ that will go straight through her living room
A 76-year-old widow has been plunged into her worst nightmare after being informed she'll have to pack up and leave her beloved home of over five decades.
Kentucky-born widow Janet Arnett and her late husband, Lowell, first purchased her 63-acre property on the Mountain Parkway back in 1969.
The couple had previously moved from mobile home to mobile home for 29 years before finally landing on the perfect patch of land to settle down and raise their family.
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In 1998, they constructed their permanent home, in which Janet has remained happy until this day, though Lowell sadly passed away back in 2015.
This week, however, Janet's entire world has come crashing down on her, after being told by highway officials that a brand new project is currently being planned, with a road intended to go straight through the middle of her property.
"This home and the land surrounding it, is being taken away from her- due to the Mountain Parkway Expansion and Eminent Domain," her family said in a heartbreaking statement. "She is losing everything."
According to the Magoffin-Floyd project's website, a 'four-lane, undivided, limited access highway that spans from US 460 in Salyersville (Magoffin County) to KY 404 in Prestonsburg (Floyd County)' is in the works.
And while Janet initially hoped she'd only lose a part of her property to the project, current renderings dictate that the new highway will go straight through the middle of her house.
"Yes, they are ‘buying’ it from her," her daughter Lanessa said. "But, she doesn’t care about the money. She wants to live her remaining years in her home."
Lanessa explains, to her elderly mother, the home isn't just a property in which to live - it preserves all the memories that she and her family have made over the years.
Janet's granddaughter, Zoe, told WYMT: "When I was growing up, Mamaw’s house was always this place of refuge. We cooked together.
"And this is where I grew up playing in the creek, catching crawdads, and catching lightning bugs. This was our epicenter of our family.
"And Mamaw’s house will always be Mamaw’s house- whether it’s right where it is or it’s down near the road- but it’s tough if Mamaw’s house gets bulldoze."
Though Janet and her family are happy to see the infrastructure of their own improving, if losing their home is a side-line consequence, they want to see some changes made to the plans.
In turn, they have issued pleas to officials all over the state, including to Gov. Andy Beshear’s office, but are worried their requests will fall on deaf ears.
Zoe has also started a petition in the hope that the local politicians will be made aware of the harm they're inflicting onto her grandmother.
Tyla has contacted Mountain Parkway Expansion for comment.
Rhianna Benson