Adopt-A-Highway is leading the charge in cleaning up litter around Tennessee public highways.
Statewide Adopt A Highway Coordinator Brittany Morris said that the program has seen recent success in lessening trash left on highways. She said a study conducted by the Tennessee Department of Transportation found 12 percent less highway litter between 2016 and 2022. She said that the decrease in litter is largely thanks to the increase of participants in Adopt A Highway and the work they put in.
“Our Adopt A Highway groups really are part of the solution helping us to reduce road-side litter in our state,” Morris said. “So our groups really are out there picking up trash and helping to keep their, even though it’s like just a two-mile stretch in their community, I mean when we have hundreds of groups across the state, I mean, that really does put forth the work.”
Morris said that Adopt A Highway is a completely free program for people to take part in. She said that upon adoption the group or individual will be given a 2-mile stretch of highway to care for. Those assigned to the road are asked to clean it 4 times a year, once per season, Morris said.
“TDOT will provide all the materials necessary, so you would just get in contact with your local TDOT district coordinator once you’re part of the program and you can get your safety vest, your litter grabbers, your trashbags, and your gloves,” Morris said. “And TDOT will even come by and pick up all those trash bags after you’ve picked up all the trash.”
In order to make things safer for TDOT trash pickup, volunteers should keep collected litter in a central location, Morris said. Certain highways cannot be considered for adoption because of safety concerns, Morris said. Safety concerns barring highways from becoming adopted include interstates, blind hills or curves, or a lack of right-of-way, Morris said.
Among the Upper Cumberland roads that need adopters:
– Fentress: Leatherwood Ford Road in Jamestown; S York Hwy in Grimsley; Deer Lodge Hwy in Clarkrange.
– Jackson: Wartrace Hwy and Shepardsville Hwy in Gainesboro.
– Overton: Monterey Hwy in Livingston and Wilder Hwy in Alpine.
– Pickett: Highway 111 in Byrdstown.
– Van Buren: Shelby A Rhinehart Memorial Hwy in Spencer; Old State Hwy 111 in Welchland; State Route 30 in Mooneyham
· Warren: Beersheba St. in McMinnville; Old Nashville Hwy in Centertown; Manchester Hwy in Morrison.
· White: Smithville Hwy in Sparta; Old Kentucky Rd in Taeston; McMinnville Hwy in Quebeck.
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