MoDOT relies on volunteers’ help to keep roads clean
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (KMIZ)
The Missouri Department of Transportation is celebrating the 35th year of its adopt a highway program, which the agency says help supplement its $6 million annual effort to keep roads clean.
MoDOT is looking for volunteers for its No MOre Trash campaign that kicks off in April.
On average MoDOT spends $6 million annually to keep Missouri roads free from litter, the agency says, spanning 385,000 acres along 34,000 state highway miles. Volunteers perform on average $1 million a year in litter cleanup. When a section of a highway is adopted, the money MoDOT saves can go towards devoting “resources to other much-needed tasks,” according to an agency news release.
Central District spokesman Adam Pulley said volunteers help MoDOT but also help keep the community clean. MoDOT provides the trash bags and safety vests.
Pulley said on average 50,400 trash bags full of litter are collected, and "several truckloads of debris that can get picked up during the one-month trash bash."
Ken Gartner, the Adopt-A-Highway Representative for the Knights of Columbus, St. Joseph, says he volunteers to take care of the environment.
"On average we collect 17 to 21 bags of trash about three times a year," Gartner said. He said the program does a good job at cleaning up the highways.
Littering is a Class A misdemeanor in Missouri with a punishment of up to a year in jail or a fine of up to $1,000. Illegal dumping is a Class A felony with fines of $20,000 or more.
When groups, families, and individuals adopt a highway, they have four different options, including
- Clean up litter
- Mow
- Beautify through landscaping
- Planting native Missouri wildfires and grasses.
Adopters are required to adopt at least half a mile of highway. Requirements include:
- Collect litter four times a year
- Sign a three-year agreement
- Submit an activity report to MoDOT
- Follow all safety procedures
