If your business, organization, school or even your family is part of the Michigan Department of Transportation’s Adopt-A-Highway program, the first litter pick-up of the year gets underway this weekend. Everyone else will want to be extra careful with those crews working along the roadside to make Michigan clean again.
Volunteers will fan out out across lower Michigan to give state highway roadsides their annual spring-cleaning beginning on Saturday, April 17th, as groups in the MDOT Adopt-A-Highway program pick up litter from April 17th to the 25th.
The first Adopt-A-Highway pickup for the northern Lower Peninsula and Upper Peninsula will follow at a later date, from May 1st to the 9th, when spring has had more time to set in.
State Transportation Director Paul C. Ajegba reports, “Our thousands of Adopt-A-Highway volunteers deserve thanks for helping to save taxpayer dollars while keeping Michigan roadsides clean,” while adding, “Their community spirit and pride make a huge difference. We ask all motorists to keep an eye out for these volunteers and drive cautiously during the pickup periods.”
Volunteers pick up litter three times each year. Statewide, there will be a summer pickup from July 17th to 25th and a fall pickup from September 25th to October 3rd.
The Adopt-A-Highway program began in Michigan in 1990. Today, around 2,900 groups have adopted more than 6,000 miles of state highway. In a typical year, those volunteers collect 60,000 to 70,000 bags of trash annually, an estimated $5 million value for the state. Last year was anything but typical, though. As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, the first pickup of 2020 was cancelled. While the summer and fall pickups went forward with COVID precautions in place, groups collected around 20,000 bags of trash. Organizers speculate the numbers were down because fewer groups were able to participate, not necessarily because there was less trash on the highways.
Adopt-A-Highway groups wear high-visibility, yellow-green safety vests required by federal regulations when working within a highway right of way. MDOT provides free vests and trash bags, and arranges to haul away the trash. Volunteers include members of various civic groups, businesses and families. Crew members have to be at least 12 years old, and each group must number at least three people. MDOT requires all such volunteers to wear a mask outdoors when they are unable to consistently maintain a distance of 6-feet or more from individuals who are not members of their household.
Sections of highway are still available for adoption for those interested in joining the effort. Groups are asked to adopt a section for at least two years. Signs bearing a group’s name are posted along the stretch of adopted highway, and there is no fee to participate.
Several landfills in southwestern Michigan are also chipping in to help the program, including:
- Orchard Hill Landfill in Berrien County
- Southeast Berrien County Landfill near Niles
- West Side Landfill in St. Joseph County
- C&C Landfill in Calhoun County
- Republic Services Gembrit Circle Transfer Station in Kalamazoo
All of those landfills have agreed to accept trash generated by the three annual Adopt-A-Highway pickups at no charge. In exchange, those businesses also receive a sign recognizing their support.
For more information, you can visit online at: http://www.Michigan.gov/AdoptAHighway.
