Adopt-a-Highway groups poised to ‘spring clean’ roadsides, help preserve Kentucky’s scenic beauty
Spring Clean Week in Breathitt, Estill, Lee, Magoffin, Menifee, Morgan, Owsley, Perry, Powell and Wolfe counties is March 17-23
FRANKFORT, Ky. – Volunteers will be out in force next week to spring clean highways in Breathitt, Estill, Lee, Magoffin, Menifee, Morgan, Owsley, Perry, Powell and Wolfe counties. The Transportation Cabinet (KYTC) announces that Adopt-a-Highway 2013 Spring Clean Week is March 17-23.
“The Kentucky Transportation Cabinet appreciates the efforts of our Adopt-a-Highway volunteers, who help keep our highways and communities beautiful and litter-free,” Transportation Secretary Mike Hancock said.
Nearly 750 groups participate in Kentucky's Adopt-a-Highway program, which was established in 1988. Volunteers clean approximately 5,100 miles of roadsides annually, setting an example of responsible environmental stewardship. Approximately 2 percent of eligible roadway mileage in the 10 counties in the Department of Highways District 10 is adopted.
The Adopt-a-Highway program promotes public environmental awareness and supports tourism. The program also creates a partnership between citizens, community and government, and establishes a sense of pride in the Bluegrass State.
GET INVOLVED!
How can you contribute to the community, make a difference, send a message and
educate others – all while having fun with friends and family? Join Kentucky’s Adopt-a-
Highway Program. By taking personal responsibility for an area roadway, you set an
example in your community.
The environment is everyone’s responsibility. Adopt-a-Highway provides the opportunity
to be a part of the solution. Each year, the KYTC spends about $5 million and 200,000
worker hours to remove 96,000 bags of highway litter. Adopt-a-Highway volunteers help
save thousands in taxpayer dollars and demonstrate that a clean environment is a shared
responsibility.
Any permanently established business, association, community or public organization, or
government entity can adopt a stretch of highway. A wide range of groups throughout
Kentucky now participate, including homemaker clubs, Boy Scout and Girl Scout troops,
high school organizations, service clubs, veterans, college fraternities and sororities,
sports teams and church groups, among others.
Volunteers adopt two-mile sections of highway under a two-year, renewable contract
with the Transportation Cabinet.
Adopt-a-Highway coordinators can explain the fundamentals of the program to volunteer
groups, work with group members in locating an available highway, and keep them
notified of news and upcoming events.
Litter pickups are held at least four times per year or as many times as necessary to keep
adopted areas reasonably litter-free. The cabinet coordinates three annual clean-up
efforts.
HOW DO I JOIN?
Groups interested in becoming members of the Adopt-a-Highway Program can find
guidelines are provided to volunteers and should be reviewed prior to each cleanup.
The Adopt-a-Highway coordinators help volunteers get in touch with the county
maintenance crew superintendent to arrange warning sign placement on the date of
pickup. Trash bags and safety vests can be obtained at each state maintenance facility,
and litter removal is provided by the state highway crews.
District 10 coordinator, at the district office in Jackson at (606) 666-8841 or by E-mail at
ron.easter@ky.gov.
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