CLINTON TWP — Bill Hoffman was going to move out of his two-story home on Ekastown Road because he could no longer use the steps.

However, Hoffman, 77, says he was forced to put a lift in the house instead.

Hoffman blames a state Department of Transportation project to create a roundabout a little west of his property.

“Nobody wants to buy it,” he said about the house.

Hoffman, who has lived there since 1970, said he cannot afford to sell the house at a lower price to entice potential buyers.

“There’s no way to sell it and survive,” he said.

The project includes changing the intersection of Ekastown and Westminster roads from a 90-degree turn to a curve. Hoffman’s land is the southeast corner of the intersection.

He said the project also was a major factor in deciding to close his woodworking business after 36 years.

Remnants of Hoffman Wood Products are visible with several fixtures in the strip of the property adjacent to Ekastown.

PennDOT is moving its right of way 15 feet closer to Hoffman’s house. He said the new property line is 35 feet from his home.

Roughly a quarter of his nearly acre property will be taken.

Hoffman questioned the choice of a roundabout over other ways to replace the tricky fork in the road now at the intersection of Ekastown and Saxonburg Boulevard known as Cox’s Corner.

He said water runoff onto his yard would worsen after the work is done.

“This whole thing is a fiasco,” Hoffman said.

He said there was no agreement on a price for the strip because PennDOT would not guarantee any future alteration to the plan.

Hoffman would not disclose how much he was offered for the land.

He is waiting for a hearing before a county court-appointed Board of Viewers, who will decide on an amount he should be paid.

The board — which will be comprised by an attorney, a Realtor and an engineer — has no authority over how much or what land the state takes.

Deborah Casadei, PennDOT public information officer, said Hoffman’s concerns would be addressed during the Board of Viewers hearing.

“All of that information will be provided,” she said.

Hoffman also predicts motorist traveling past his property will increase speed if they see the roundabout looks clear ahead.

“The speeders are going to be something,” he said.

While Hoffman’s hearing is pending, Joe Kozora, owner of Quantum Engineered Products on Saxonburg Boulevard, continues his battle with PennDOT over another right of way.

As part of the project, the state is straightening out the intersection of Saxonburg Boulevard and Knoch Road, making it a 90-degree turn.

Due to adding a left turn lane from the eastbound lane of Saxonburg Boulevard onto Knoch Road, PennDOT needs a wider berth on the other side of the intersection, where Quantum is located.

Kozora said he doesn’t trust that PennDOT won’t take too much land based on a revised plan he calls “sloppy.”

He maintains PennDOT should have filed a new plan, not submitted a copy that just added Xs and a dotted line to distinguish the land being relinquished to preserve the company’s septic system.

PennDOT maintains that section of the parcel is not being taken, but Kozora said he is unconvinced.

Kozora discussed connection options with the Saxonburg Area Authority. The estimated cost for Quantum to be hooked into the authority sewage system is between $145,000 and $165,000.

“It is very expensive and complicated as a large grinder pump has to be installed,” Kozora stated in an e-mail.

He is pursuing a Board of Viewers hearing regarding his challenge to eminent domain.

Casadei said the respective hearings would give both Kozora and Hoffman a chance to present their cases.

“They can bring up all the issues,” she said.

PennDOT last week received bids from contractors to do the project. The apparent low bidder was A. Liberoni Inc. of Plum for $5.5 million.

Hoffman is nonplussed by the impetus for such projects as the roundabout, “It’s progress, they tell me.”