![Adopt-A-Highway sign, CSU Pueblo Athletics](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/14/Adopt-A-Highway_sign%2C_CSU_Pueblo_Athletics.jpg)
The Adopt-a-Highway program, and the very similar Sponsor-a-Highway, are promotional campaigns undertaken by
U.S. state
In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its sove ...
s,
provinces and territories of
Canada
Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...
, and some national governments outside
North America
North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Car ...
to encourage volunteers to keep a section of a
highway
A highway is any public or private road or other public way on land. It is used for major roads, but also includes other public roads and public tracks. In some areas of the United States, it is used as an equivalent term to controlled-acces ...
free from litter. In exchange for regular litter removal, an
organization
An organization or organisation (Commonwealth English; see spelling differences), is an entity—such as a company, an institution, or an association—comprising one or more people and having a particular purpose.
The word is derived from ...
(such as
Cub Scout
Cub Scouts, Cubs or Wolf Cubs are programs associated with Scouting for young children usually between 7 and 12, depending on the organization to which they belong. A participant in the program is called a Cub. A group of Cubs is called a 'P ...
s or
Knights of Columbus
The Knights of Columbus (K of C) is a global Catholic fraternal service order founded by Michael J. McGivney on March 29, 1882. Membership is limited to practicing Catholic men. It is led by Patrick E. Kelly, the order's 14th Supreme Knight. ...
) is allowed to have its name posted on a sign in the section of the highways they maintain.
History
![GLCSsign](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e4/GLCSsign.jpg)
The program originated in the 1980s when James Evans, an engineer for the
Texas Department of Transportation
The Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT ) is a government agency in the American state of Texas. Though the public face of the agency is generally associated with the construction and maintenance of the state's immense state highway system ...
(TxDOT), saw
debris
Debris (, ) is rubble, wreckage, ruins, litter and discarded garbage/refuse/trash, scattered remains of something destroyed, or, as in geology, large rock fragments left by a melting glacier, etc. Depending on context, ''debris'' can refer to ...
flying out of a
pickup truck bed. Litter cleanup by the city was expensive, so Evans sought the help of local groups to sponsor the cleaning of sections of the highway. The efforts of Billy Black, a TxDOT public information officer, led to quarterly cleanup cycles, volunteer safety training, the issuing of reflective vests and equipment, and the posting of adopt-a-highway signs.
In 1985, the
Tyler Tyler may refer to:
People and fictional characters
* Tyler (name), an English name; with lists of people with the surname or given name
* Tyler, the Creator (born 1991), American rap artist and producer
* John Tyler, 10th president of the United ...
Civitan Club became the first group to volunteer, adopting two miles along
U.S. Route 69 just north of
Loop 323 between Tyler and
Interstate 20. The program proved to be very successful and has since spread to 49 states,
Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico (; abbreviated PR; tnq, Boriken, ''Borinquen''), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico ( es, link=yes, Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico, lit=Free Associated State of Puerto Rico), is a Caribbean island and Unincorporated ...
,
Canada
Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...
,
New Zealand
New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...
,
Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...
, and
Japan
Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...
. Vermont has a similar program called "
Green Up."
In 1989, California became the 20th state to develop a highway litter control program when the
California Department of Transportation
The California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) is an executive department of the U.S. state of California. The department is part of the cabinet-level California State Transportation Agency (CalSTA). Caltrans is headquartered in Sacr ...
began administering the Adopt-A-Highway program for state highways. The program distinguishes between volunteer adoptions and sponsored adoptions. , more than 120,000 California residents have participated in the program to remove litter, plant trees and wildflowers, removing graffiti, and clearing vegetation along over of roadside.
Some states, such as
Nevada
Nevada ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, Western region of the United States. It is bordered by Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. N ...
, allow both Adopt-a-Highway and Sponsor-a-Highway programs. In both programs, an organization that contributes to the cleanup is allowed to post its name. However, while an adopting organization provides the volunteers who do the litter pickup, a sponsoring organization instead pays professional contractors to do the work. Because of safety concerns, the latter is more typical in highways with high traffic volumes.
Participation
![ESPROADSIDEAAHSIGN](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/7a/ESPROADSIDEAAHSIGN.jpg)
The Adopt-A-Highway program allows any organization to participate, which became a point of controversy when the
Ku Klux Klan adopted a portion of
Interstate 55
Interstate 55 (I-55) is a major Interstate Highway in the central United States. As with most primary Interstates that end in a five, it is a major cross-country, north–south route, connecting the Gulf of Mexico to the Great Lakes. The h ...
just south of
St. Louis, Missouri
St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi River, Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the Greater St. Louis, ...
. While legally the program had to uphold the groups' rights to participate, public outcry and repeated destruction of its sign was a cause of concern. In November 2000, the section of highway was designated as the
Rosa Parks
Rosa Louise McCauley Parks (February 4, 1913 – October 24, 2005) was an American activist in the civil rights movement best known for her pivotal role in the Montgomery bus boycott. The United States Congress has honored her as "th ...
Freeway after the famous
civil rights
Civil and political rights are a class of rights that protect individuals' freedom from infringement by governments, social organizations, and private individuals. They ensure one's entitlement to participate in the civil and political life o ...
figure.
KKK sponsorship was later dropped from the program for the group's failure to fulfill its obligations, and the
Missouri Department of Transportation adopted specific criteria to prohibit hate groups from future participation. However, the
8th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that any attempt to bar the Klan from participation in the Adopt-a-Highway program on the basis of the group's purpose is a violation of the
First Amendment
First or 1st is the ordinal form of the number one (#1).
First or 1st may also refer to:
*World record, specifically the first instance of a particular achievement
Arts and media Music
* 1$T, American rapper, singer-songwriter, DJ, and reco ...
. The Supreme Court declined to hear the case, so the ruling stood.
In 2001,
South Dakota
South Dakota (; Sioux language, Sioux: , ) is a U.S. state in the West North Central states, North Central region of the United States. It is also part of the Great Plains. South Dakota is named after the Lakota people, Lakota and Dakota peo ...
denied participation to a gay and lesbian organization. Governor
Bill Janklow eventually allowed the group to participate but had sponsor names removed from all adopt-a-highway signs in the state.
In January 2005, the
American Nazi Party
The American Nazi Party (ANP) is an American far-right and neo-Nazi political party founded by George Lincoln Rockwell and headquartered in Arlington, Virginia. The organization was originally named the World Union of Free Enterprise Nation ...
adopted a stretch of the rural Sunnyview Road NE outside
Salem,
Oregon
Oregon () is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of it ...
. Two signs were put up along the road that bore the names of the American Nazi Party and
NSM. The signs, which cost $500 and were almost immediately subject to
vandalism
Vandalism is the action involving deliberate destruction of or damage to public or private property.
The term includes property damage, such as graffiti and defacement directed towards any property without permission of the owner. The term f ...
, have since been removed. The American Nazi Party's chair, Rocky J. Suhayda, claimed to have no association with the Adopt a Highway program.
In 2009, the state of Missouri renamed a section of highway after Rabbi
Abraham Joshua Heschel
Abraham Joshua Heschel (January 11, 1907 – December 23, 1972) was a Polish-born American rabbi and one of the leading Jewish theologians and Jewish philosophers of the 20th century. Heschel, a professor of Jewish mysticism at the Jewish T ...
, because it had been adopted by a neo-Nazi group. Rabbi Heschel fled the Nazis’ advance in Europe and became a prominent theologian and civil rights advocate in the United States before his death in 1972. Rabbi Heschel's daughter opposed this decision.
In 2012, the International Keystone Knights of the KKK submitted an application to adopt a stretch of
Georgia State Route 515
State Route 515 (SR 515) is a four-lane C-shaped state highway in the northern part of the U.S. state of Georgia. It uses a blue state route designation because it is part of the Appalachian Development Highway System. It begins just ...
. The
Georgia Department of Transportation denied the application, citing safety concerns and the hate group's history.
In 2012,
PennDOT
The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT) oversees transportation issues in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. The administrator of PennDOT is the Pennsylvania Secretary of Transportation, currently Yassmin Gramian. Presently, P ...
accepted an Adopt-A-Highway sponsorship along a portion of
Interstate 376
Interstate 376 (I-376) is a major auxiliary route of the Interstate Highway System in the US state of Pennsylvania, located within the Allegheny Plateau. It runs from I-80 near Sharon south and east to a junction with the Pennsylvania T ...
in
Pittsburgh
Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Wester ...
from a local
strip club
A strip club is a venue where strippers provide adult entertainment, predominantly in the form of striptease or other Erotic dancing, erotic or exotic dances. Strip clubs typically adopt a nightclub or Bar (establishment), bar style, and can also ...
located in
Downtown Pittsburgh
Downtown Pittsburgh, colloquially referred to as the Golden Triangle, and officially the Central Business District, is the urban downtown center of Pittsburgh. It is located at the confluence of the Allegheny River and the Monongahela River who ...
. According to PennDOT officials, strip clubs are permitted, along with any other business, to sponsor such projects, since it keeps the roads clean and saves taxpayers money. Despite the sponsorship, the program does not send
strippers to clean the roads, but rather sends workers from the state paid for by the club to clean the highways.
Economically, the program may be viewed as a way of getting around regulations prohibiting billboards next to a highway and on a per-view basis, it is more economical than billboards.
In popular culture
![Adopt-a-highway sign diagram Kramer](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/3b/Adopt-a-highway_sign_diagram_Kramer.svg)
* In the hit U.S. sitcom ''
Seinfeld
''Seinfeld'' ( ) is an American television sitcom created by Larry David and Jerry Seinfeld. It aired on NBC from July 5, 1989, to May 14, 1998, over nine seasons and List of Seinfeld episodes, 180 episodes. It stars Seinfeld as Jerry Seinfeld ( ...
'' episode "
The Pothole
"The Pothole" is the 150th episode of the sitcom '' Seinfeld''. This was the 16th episode for the eighth season. It aired on February 20, 1997. In the episode, Jerry is unwilling to kiss his girlfriend after she unknowingly brushes her teeth with ...
" Feb. 20, 1997,
Cosmo Kramer
Cosmo Kramer, usually referred to as simply "Kramer", is a fictional character in the American television sitcom ''Seinfeld'' (1989–1998) played by Michael Richards.
The character is loosely based on comedian Kenny Kramer, Larry David's e ...
adopts a mile of the fictional Arthur Burghardt Expressway. Kramer proceeds to alter the 4 lane highway to 2 lanes to allow the creation of wider "leisure lanes", which results in major traffic congestion.
* In the ''
American Dad!'' episode "
It's Good to Be Queen
The second season of ''American Dad!'' aired from September 11, 2005, to May 14, 2006. The season consisted of sixteen episodes. The first 6 episodes of the season is included within the Volume 1 Volume One, Volume 1, Volume I or Vol. 1 may refer ...
" Francine comments on the cleanliness of the highway and gives thanks to the Ku Klux Klan.
* The
MU330
MU330 are an American ska punk band from St. Louis, Missouri, United States. Formed by students of St. Louis University High School in 1988, MU330 played a self-described brand of music called "Psycho Ska", high energy ska punk marked by manic ...
song "KKK Hiway" is about the Ku Klux Klan's attempt to sponsor Interstate 55 in lead singer Dan Potthast's hometown of St. Louis ("a few miles away from
ismom's house").
* In the ''
Simpsons
''The Simpsons'' is an American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series is a satirical depiction of American life, epitomized by the Simpson family, which consists of Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa, a ...
'' episode "
Krusty Gets Kancelled
"Krusty Gets Kancelled" is the twenty-second and final episode of the fourth season of the American animated television series ''The Simpsons''. It first aired on the Fox network in the United States on May 13, 1993. In the episode, a new show fea ...
",
Bette Midler is seen picking up trash along a stretch of highway she has adopted, and causes car crashes for drivers who deliberately litter.
* In Rick Riordan's ''The Trials of Apollo, Book 2: The Dark Prophecy'', the character Apollo finds his destination via an Adopt-a-Highway sign sponsored by the book's antagonist, Triumvirate Holdings.
References
External links
Texas Adopt-a-Highway historyfrom the
Texas Department of Transportation
The Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT ) is a government agency in the American state of Texas. Though the public face of the agency is generally associated with the construction and maintenance of the state's immense state highway system ...
Web site
Public Litter Removal Programsfrom the
Nevada Department of Transportation
The Nevada Department of Transportation (Nevada DOT or NDOT) is a government agency in the U.S. state of Nevada. NDOT is responsible for maintaining and improving Nevada's highway system, which includes U.S. highways and Interstate highways withi ...
Web site
Adopt a Highwayfrom the
British Columbia Ministry of Transportation Web site
United States Attorneys Hate Crimes Task Force Web SiteLA Car- Your Friendly Nazi Party Adopts a Highway?Adopt A Highway - First Adopt a Highway corporation
st. 1990
{{DEFAULTSORT:Adopt A Highway
Transportation in the United States
Political neologisms
Waste organizations
Tyler, Texas