3,000 Plus Volunteer Groups Take to State Highways to Toss Some Trash

If you spot volunteers picking up trash along the highway this weekend, give them a friendly thumb’s up, they’re saving you $1.5 million in taxes.

Starting Saturday, July 14, some 3,200 volunteer groups are expected to hit the roadsides cleaning up litter along more than 7,200 miles of Michigan highway and saving state taxpayers an estimated $1.5 million in cleanup costs.

“Volunteers in the Adopt-A-Highway program perform a tremendous public service," said State Transportation Director Kirk T. Steudle, in a prepared statement. "They take great pride in their communities, and help MDOT concentrate its limited resources on repairing roads and bridges."

This is the second pickup of the year and will run through July 22.

In 2011, Adopt-A-Highway volunteers collected more than 75,000 bags of trash over the course of three pickup dates. 

Get your family, business or civic group involved

Sections of highway are still available for adoption and interested groups should contact Macomb County AAH Coordinator Rosalyn Hayes at 586-978-1935 or hayesr@michigan.gov about location availability prior to sending in your Adopt-A-Highway application form.

Two of the groups are based in Macomb Township. Both the St. Isidore Catholic Church Knights of Columbus Council 7200 and teams from Ray Wiegand’s Nursery have been cleaning up sections of M-53 and M-59, respectively, for more than 20 years.

Volunteers adopt both sides of a section of state highway to clean up for at least a two-year period. There is no fee to participate, and MDOT will provide bags for litter as well as collect the filled bags. At least three people must participate in each group and crew members have to be at least 12 years old. 

To recognize each group's efforts, MDOT places a highly visible Adopt-A-Highway sign bearing a group's name along their portion of adopted highway.

MDOT Note: Littering is a violation of state law and anyone who tosses litter that hits or falls into the path of another vehicle on a highway is guilty of a misdemeanor, punishable by up to one year in jail or a fine up to $500, or both.