From staff reports
PennDOT’s northwest region is urging motorists and residents to help reduce litter along roads by taking preventive actions and assist department employees with clean-up efforts.
Employees from PennDOT’s Venango County facility in Oil City were out Wednesday as well, cleaning up areas along Route 322 and ramps along Interstate 80.
The Civil Engineer Council, which is made up of newer employees from the District 1 office in Oil City, adopted the Interstate 80 interchange with Route 8 in Venango County.
This was a major improvement from the year before when only 10 new groups signed up for the program.
In total, there are 449 groups signed up for the Adopt-A-Highway program in the northwest region, and more than 913 bags of garbage from 173 miles of roadway have been collected so far this year.
Even with the success of the 2021 recruitment drive, hundreds of miles of state-owned roadways remain available for adoption.
The program calls for volunteers to collect litter on a two-mile section of state highway at least two times a year, typically in the spring and fall.
The program currently has more than 5,000 participating groups statewide, more than 112,000 volunteers, and 8,000 miles of adopted state-maintained roadways.
Roadways can be adopted by individuals or groups of any sort, including clubs, schools, churches, businesses, and families.
Gloves, trash bags, and safety vests for the cleanup campaign are provided by request.
Anyone interested can signup by going online to www.adoptahighway.penndot.gov.
The website includes an online application process, a supplies request form, and an option to notify PennDOT once a collection event has been held.
Information is also available by calling PennDOT’s District 1 roadside specialist Cheryl Wimer, who coordinates the region’s Adopt-AHighway program, at (814) 678-7042.
