The flotsam, jetsam and winter detritus littering the highways, country roads, and other routes will get a major workover as businesses, families, organizations, and church & civic groups get ready to hit the road from next Saturday through April 24th in the first Adopt-A-Highway cleanup of the year around Michigan.
While the southern regions of the state managed to squeeze in one last snow storm over this past weekend and still get most of the snow melted, the first Adopt-A-Highway pickup slated for the northern Lower Peninsula and the Upper Peninsula has been pushed back to the week of April 30th to May 8th due to standing roadside snowbanks.
Kirk Steudle is State Transportation Director for Michigan. he says, "Adopt-A-Highway volunteers take pride in keeping Michigan roadsides looking great." He adds, "We have tremendous appreciation for their hard work. Adopt-A-Highway crews give a financial boost to the entire state by doing an important job that we otherwise couldn't fund. Please be alert and drive with caution when you see the volunteers at work."
Volunteers around the state pick up litter three times each year. Statewide, there will be a summer pickup from July 16 to 24 and a fall pickup from Sept. 24 to Oct. 2.
Dedicated Adopt-A-Highway volunteers collect about 70,000 bags of trash annually, an estimated $5 million value for the state. Volunteers 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.
Locally, the Lincoln Township Volunteer Corps has scheduled the first road clean up of I-94's Exit 23 for Saturday, April 23rd. Those interested in volunteering should call the Lincoln Township office at 429-1589 to sign up. Volunteers will meet at the Lincoln Township Hall at 2055 John Beers Road at 8am for the mandatory MDOT safety briefing, pick up their safety vests and trash bags and receive assigned sectors of the interchange and parking locations. Volunteers must be at least 12 years old, must wear light colored clothing covering arms and legs, and wear leather shoes or boots, a hat, gloves and safety glasses.
The Adopt-A-Highway program actually enters its 26th year of operation this year with a quarter century of accomplishments behind it. Some measure of the program's success:
- 382 groups have been in the program for 25 years or more. Of the 2,925 groups currently in the program, 751 have been participating for at least 20 years.
- There have been more than 2 million bags of litter collected from the state's roadsides.
- 6,400 miles of highway are currently adopted.
Current 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.
Sections of highway are still available for adoption. Groups are asked to adopt a section for at least two years. Adopt-A-Highway signs bearing a group's name are posted along the stretch of adopted highway. There is no fee to participate.
For more information, click this link: www.michigan.gov/adoptahighway.
