WYDOT offers Adopt-A-Highway Program
Sublette County highway stretches available
by Wyoming Department of Transportation
May 15, 2007
April showers may have brought May flowers, but May is also when roadside litter is spotlighted as the Wyoming Department of Transportation kicks off their 2007 Adopt-A-Highway program. Through the program, companies, churches, service clubs and organizations agree to "adopt" a 2-mile stretch of highway with the goal of picking up litter in that section's right-of-way at least twice a year. May marks the 18th anniversary of Wyoming's Adopt-A-Highway program. Currently, 274 separate groups have adopted more than 630 miles of highway in southwest Wyoming, with several sections that remain open. Members are encouraged to get out in May to make the first of their two required cleanups for the year.
Wyoming's Adopt-A-Highway program is modeled after the nation's first Adopt-A-Highway program, which was initiated in Texas in 1985. Each participating group signs an agreement to pick up litter two times per year for at least two years, and WYDOT workers erect road signs recognizing the group at each end of their adopted road section. Adopt-A-Highway volunteers must obey all safety laws and regulations and conduct at least two safety meetings annually. WYDOT supplies volunteers with orange safety vests and orange trash bags, and WYDOT personnel remove the litter after volunteers bag it.
Litter along the roadways in Wyoming is an increasing problem, especially in locations where the traveling public frequents, such as exits and rest areas. Each year, WYDOT spends more than $1.6 million in trash pick up along the state's highways. The program helps offset these efforts and is also a great opportunity for the people of Wyoming to demonstrate their pride in Wyoming highways and Wyoming scenery and help prepare for the tourism season. Groups interested in adopting their own stretch of highway, or groups with an adopted section in Sweetwater, Uinta, Lincoln, Sublette, and Teton counties should contact David Fedrizzi, the AAH Coordinator for WYDOT District Three, in Rock Springs at 352-3050 or eimail: >a href="mailto:David.Fedrizzi@dot.state.wy.us">David.Fedrizzi@dot.state.wy.us, to either get more information or to update their contact information for the program.
|