The lawsuit, filed Thursday, is largely a reiteration of his Governmental Records Access and Management Act requests and UDOT's unsatisfactory responses.

But deep inside the GRAMA complaint is an indication Berman seeks more than just governmental records: The settlement agreement between UDOT and a coalition of conservation and civic organizations that sued to stop the highway, he claims, has destroyed his property's potential for commercial development and therefore its market value.

"Nobody ever talked to me or told me my property was going to be included in that settlement agreement," Berman said Monday. "But this property is valuable. It bothers me that the state and environmentalists would make a deal involving my property without telling me about it."

UDOT spokeswoman Bethany Eller declined to comment on the lawsuit because agency lawyers were still going over it. Lawsuits over property acquisitions aren't unusual, she said. Of the 237 parcels UDOT went after for its Legacy corridor, 50 remain in court.

Berman's land was one of four parcels identified in a legal settlement between UDOT and the Sierra Club, Utahns for Better Transportation, the League of Women Voters, Friends of Great Salt Lake, Future Moves Coalition and Great Salt Lake Audubon.

The coalition of plaintiffs in the 2001 lawsuit against UDOT halted Legacy's construction until a settlement agreement and legislative ratification last November ended litigation over the 14-mile scenic byway through south Davis County and led to resumption of work a couple of weeks ago.

In his lawsuit, Berman states he first approached UDOT for answers via a Nov. 22 GRAMA request. Ten days earlier, the Legislature in a special session approved the settlement terms that included UDOT's intention to acquire his land.

UDOT claimed the records were "protected," but never proved its reason for the GRAMA denial, the lawsuit states. Berman continued to seek the records to no avail, the lawsuit claims.

The lawsuit also states, "The inclusion and listing of the Berman property . . . [in] the settlement agreement makes the Berman property in its entirety unmarketable and undevelopable" - a signal that Berman intends to take the case beyond a records request.

"Those questions I asked are fair questions," Berman said. "Hopefully I don't have to be a belligerent beyond getting the records. But if I do, there's enough at stake where I would have to do something."