Adopt a Highway

Hundreds of thousands participated in National CleanUp Day, including Adopt a Highway volunteers. 

Arizona Department of Transportation volunteers answered the call to participate on National CleanUp Day, Sept. 18, by removing more than 150 bags, or 2,053 pounds of trash from alongside Arizona’s highways. 

Forty groups from all corners of the state: Page, Yuma, Concho, Vernon, Show Low, Prescott, Chino Valley, Congress, Kingman, Lake Havasu City, Tucson, Bouse, Claypool, Sahuarita and Bullhead City, registered with ADOT for the event on the Adopt a Highway website. 

National CleanUp Day is almost here. Be sure to let your friends and family know you're volunteering! 

National CleanUp Day is just around the corner. Now is the time to register! 

It's not too late to clean a highway for National CleanUp Day on Sept. 18. 

Don't let others talk trash or trash our highways! Check our our new ADOT Kids litter game. 

TUCSON - In an unprecedented push to remove roadside garbage and debris, 42 Arizona Department of Transportation employees from southern Arizona were recently able to pick up 11,000 pounds of trash and bulk items.

Get online and make sure to register your group for National CleanUp Day! 

Today's blog takes you on a unique journey. 

Mark you calendar for National CleanUp Day on Saturday, Sept. 18! 

One Adopt a Highway volunteer was inspired to serve his community during his daily drive to work. 

You may have noticed them while traveling on the interstate, state highways in Arizona. Adopt a Highway recognition signs bearing the name of a volunteer group, a loved one memorialized or a local business sponsoring litter cleanup are all along our roadways. 

The signs represent the adopters or caretakers of a two-mile segment of state highway. Volunteers who represent those signs are a priceless resource that helps keep Arizona’s highways clean. 

Volunteers often make lemonade out of lemons. 

Inspiration comes in many forms. In the case of Lina Rodriguez, it happened on a road trip. 

These families remember the loved ones they've lost all year long by keeping their small part of Arizona grand and litter-free.

Nothing ruins a great shot of Arizona's beautiful scenery like someone's trash. But, picture being the one who helps ensure the state looks camera ready by adopting a mile of highway.

You are never too young to care about your community, something demonstrated recently by a group of middle school students who helped clean up a section of US 191 near Morenci. 

A $20 bill inside a water bottle, a new elf hat with tag still attached, an old cannonball...our volunteers have seen and cleaned it all. But while these oddities are fun to recount, the true treasure of the roadside shoulder are those who volunteer regularly to clean it.

The Gila County Sheriff's Office is no stranger to serving their community. So it should come as no surprise that they have been recognized as Outstanding Volunteers for their dedication to keep mile 256 of State Route 188 clean. 

Why is it a big deal? Because highway maintenance dollars saved, to the tune of $235,000, means that taxpayer funds can be used for other Arizona Department of Transportation priorities. More important is the determination of volunteers to Keep It Grand by making Arizona’s highways more appealing for all.

That makes those who commit time and effort to ADOT’s Adopt a Highway program worthy of a big thank you from all Arizonans during National Volunteer Week, which runs through April 24.