Adopt-A-Highway keeps roads tidy

Red Rock Moose Lodge 252 is among the estimated 100 groups who regularly pick up litter left behind by motorists along Clark County roadways through Nevada's Adopt-A-Highway Program.

Last weekend, lodge members braved the summer heat and filled garbage bags with trash discarded along their "adopted" two-mile stretch of state Route 159, just east of the Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area.

Patty Underwood, who coordinates the lodge's volunteer effort, said the group has supported the program for nine years.

"We feel like the Adopt-A-Highway Program is a worthwhile thing to do. It's a beautiful area out there, and we want to keep it clean," Underwood said.

"I've been participating for about seven years. I first did it because I felt like our Moose Lodge needed more help. It can be difficult to clean up the roadway if only four or five people participate, and are picking up trash on a two-mile stretch on each side of a road. Now, we have an average of eight to 14 people who participate each time, and new people join us all the time. I enjoy doing it and think that it's a great way to help out the environment."

Volunteers like Underwood are the wheels that have kept the statewide program turning since its establishment in 1990. Similar programs are in place nationwide.

"About 20 percent of 5,500 miles of roads have been adopted in Nevada," said Ed Wilson, customer service coordinator with the Nevada Department of Transportation in Carson City. "About 500 groups participate in the program statewide, and they range from one person to 50 people. The average number of people participating in a particular outing is five. We have one guy, a trucker, who has adopted about 20 miles along a highway that he drives near Elko. He gets out of his truck and picks up trash during his mandatory break times."

Participants must make a two-year commitment and follow some basic rules.

"Groups are generally supposed to pick up four times a year in two-mile stretches. The groups are not to go onto the actual paved surfaces, they pick up next to the paved surfaces. We provide them with orange reflector vests and the trash bags, and we (NDOT) pick up the filled bags later," Wilson said. "For groups who volunteer, we pay for and install (a sign bearing their name) near the stretch of roadway that they adopt."

Participants are encouraged to use "common sense safety" while next to the roads, especially since the high-profile case of Jessica Williams, who in 2000 struck and killed six teenagers with her van as they picked up trash in the median of Interstate 15 as part of a youth offenders work crew, a program completely independent of Adopt-A-Highway.

"We absolutely prohibit groups with members under the age of 18 from working on higher-speed highways due to safety. We will place groups with such members off of urban roads and onto lower-speed ones. All participants have to be at least 12 years old and have adults with them," Wilson said.

Due to safety concerns, high-speed roads, such as U.S. Highway 95 in Las Vegas and Interstate 15, cannot be adopted, according to Bob McKenzie, public information officer with NDOT's Las Vegas office. Instead, groups can help pay for cleanup along those roadways through the state's Sponsor-A-Highway Program.

"The highways that are sponsorable are I-15 from stateline to stateline, U.S. 95 from stateline to stateline, and state Route 163," McKenzie said. "By having people help pay for the litter removal, the savings are considerable for the state."

McKenzie said two nationwide companies can be contracted to participate in the Sponsor-A-Highway program. As with the Adopt-A-Highway program, participants are recognized with a sign bearing their name posted near the site they sponsor.

Adopt-A-Highway Litter Removal Services, which expanded to Nevada last year, has five clients statewide. Company executive Melinda Centner said her company will clean a one-mile stretch twice a month for about $300 to $325 per month.

The other company, Adopt-A-Highway Maintenance Corp., which entered the state about three years ago and has about 40 Nevada clients, charges about $500 to $700 per month, depending on the number of cleanings required, according to Patricia Nelson, vice president and general manager.

"There are a lot of forward-thinking state transportation people who augment their maintenance budgets with this. It's a win-win program because the clients can be seen as someone who cares about the environment and the state can save money on maintenance. It's turned out to be one of those private-public partnerships that has been very beneficial to all involved," Nelson said.

Groups interested in adopting or sponsoring a highway should call Bob McKenzie at 385-6504 or e-mail him at rmckenzie@dot.state.nv.us for information.

Real Estate home