In an annual rite of spring, volunteers will fan out across lower Michigan to give state highway roadsides their first cleaning, beginning Saturday as groups in the Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT) Adopt-A-Highway (AAH) program pick up litter from April 22-30.   The first pickup for the Upper Peninsula will start May 6.

 

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, these volunteers collect 60,000 to 70,000 bags of trash annually, an estimated $5 million value for the state.

 

Volunteers pick up litter three times each year. Statewide, there will be a summer pickup from July 15 to 23 and a fall pickup from Sept. 23 to Oct. 1.

 

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.

 

Sections of highway are still available for adoption. 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. There is no fee to participate. Go to www.Michigan.gov/AdoptAHighway for more information.