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Final Adopt-A-Highway cleanup of year starts Saturday

Fast facts:

  • The final Adopt-A-Highway of the year is Sept. 21-29.
  • Adopt-A-Highway volunteers collect more than 65,000 bags of trash during the three annual pickups each year.
  • Sections of highway are still available to adopt. Go to www.Michigan.gov/AdoptAHighway for more information.

September 17, 2019 -- As summer gives way to fall, volunteers will soon fan out along Michigan state roadsides looking for trash during the year's final Adopt-A-Highway pickup. Thousands of volunteers in the popular Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT) program will be picking up litter from Saturday, Sept. 21, through Sunday, Sept. 29.

There are three scheduled Adopt-A-Highway pickups each year: one each in the spring, summer and fall. Volunteers in Michigan have been participating in the program since 1990. Every year, Adopt-A-Highway volunteers collect 65,000 to 70,000 bags of trash. The popular program has grown to involve nearly 2,800 groups cleaning 6,100 miles of highway.

Motorists should be on the lookout beginning Saturday for volunteers wearing high-visibility, yellow-green safety vests. MDOT provides free vests and trash bags, and arranges to haul away the trash.

Volunteers include members of civic groups, businesses and families. Crew members have to be at least 12 years old and each group must include at least three people. Groups are asked to adopt a section of highway for at least two years. There is no fee to participate. Adopt-A-Highway signs bearing group names are posted along the stretches of adopted highway.

Sections of highway are available for adoption all over the state. Getting involved in the program is straightforward. Interested groups can get more information at www.Michigan.gov/AdoptAHighway.

Several landfills in southwestern Michigan are also pitching in to help the Adopt-A-Highway program. Westside Landfill in St. Joseph County, C&C Landfill in Calhoun County, Orchard Hill Landfill in Berrien County, Southeast Berrien County Landfill near Niles, and Republic Services Gembrit Circle Transfer Station in Kalamazoo have all agreed to accept trash generated by the three annual AAH pickups at no charge. In exchange, these businesses will receive a sign recognizing their support.