Adopting a highway: For love of ‘home’ -- and 'Seinfeld'

By Laurie Merrill / ADOT Communications

Let me start by admitting right up front that I am not the type who loves to scrub, vacuum, mop or polish.

I do these things not because I want to, but because I have to if I want a clean home.

But this past Saturday, I volunteered to join ADOT Communications colleagues to do that which I typically dread: clean.

As part of ADOT’s Adopt a Highway program, our team has adopted a mile of US 60 that spans mileposts 130-131 in the Wittman area.

I volunteered to pick up trash during my time off not because I want to, but because I have to if I want a clean home.

You see, Arizona’s roadways are kind of like my home away from home. They’re the place I go when I leave my house and again when I leave work. It’s how I visit friends and family, run errands, explore Arizona and go anywhere at all.

Word Sayers and Trash Slayers

So donning a safety vest and picking up a blue trash bag and a grabber stick, I spent some quality time with work friends adding quality to “our” piece of highway by making it cleaner.

Soon you’ll be able to recognize ADOT’s mile because of a road sign referring to both our roles as communicators and debris removers:

Speaking of “our” piece of highway, another reason I got involved in ADOT’s Adopt a Highway program is that I was influenced by the hysterically funny 150^th episode of Seinfeld called “The Pothole.”

For the uninitiated, this is the episode when Kramer adopts mile 114 of a New York City-area highway and attempts to make “his” section more luxurious by widening the lanes, with hilarious results (you can see highlight at right).

“Ah, you know how in planes they got first class? More legroom, better ride? Well, I’m bringing that concept to mile 114,” Kramer says.

Our group didn’t repaint any lane lines, but we picked up a bunch of trash. In our way, we made US 60 milepost 130-131 more luxurious.

ADOT’s Adopt a Highway Volunteer Program already has more than 800 volunteer groups and almost 11,000 individual volunteers who clean up litter along Arizona’s roadways.

Find out more about how to apply for a volunteer permit with the Adopt a Highway Volunteer Program at azdot.gov/AdoptaHighway.