Second Adopt-A-Highway cleanup coming Saturday

Fast facts:

• The second Adopt-A-Highway pickup of the year is July 12-20.
• Adopt-A-Highway volunteers collected more than 36,000 bags of trash last year.
• Sections of highway in parts of the state are still available to adopt. Go to https://www.Michigan.gov/AdoptAHighway for more information.

LANSING, Mich. ­- Motorists should be on the lookout beginning Saturday as Adopt-A-Highway volunteers fan out across the state picking up litter. Participants in the Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT) program will clean highway roadsides from July 12 to 20 during the second of three scheduled pickups this year.

The popular Adopt-A-Highway program began in Michigan in 1990. Today, 35 years later, around 2,600 groups have adopted more than 6,000 miles of state highway. Last year alone, these volunteers collected more than 36,000 bags of trash.

Getting involved in Adopt-A-Highway is straightforward. Volunteers include members of civic groups, businesses and families. Crew members have to be at least 12 years old and each group must include at least three people. Groups are asked to adopt a section of highway for at least two years. There is no fee to participate. Adopt-A-Highway signs bearing group names are posted along the stretches of adopted highway.

When working in a highway right of way, Adopt-A-Highway volunteers wear high-visibility, yellow-green safety vests required by federal regulations. MDOT provides free vests and trash bags, and arranges to haul away the trash.

Sections of highway are available for adoption all over the state. Interested groups can get more information on joining the program at https://www.Michigan.gov/AdoptAHighway.

The year's final Adopt-A-Highway pickup is scheduled for the fall, from Sept. 20 to 28.