Second MDOT Adopt-A-Highway cleanup coming Saturday, July 11

Fast facts:

• The second Adopt-A-Highway pickup of the year is July 11-19.
• Adopt-A-Highway volunteers collected about 40,000 bags of trash last year.
• Sections of highway are still available to adopt. Go to the Adopt-A-Highway website for more information and a map of available segments.

LANSING, Mich. ­- Drivers 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 11 to 19 during the second of three scheduled pickups this year.

The popular Adopt-A-Highway program began in Michigan in 1990. As of last year, about 2,600 groups have adopted more than 6,000 miles of state highway through the program. An estimated 19,000 participants collected almost 40,000 bags of trash from roadsides during the three annual pickup periods in 2025.

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 the 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.

Around the state, sections of highway are still available to adopt. Go to the Adopt-A-Highway website for more information and a map of available segments.

The year's final Adopt-A-Highway pickup is scheduled for the fall, from Sept. 19 to 27.