Many Wyoming highways will be back to looking ‘picture perfect’ as volunteers pick up trash during the Adopt-A-Highway program’s annual Spring Clean Fling.

Nearly 900 participating groups clean about 1,800 miles of highway throughout Wyoming each year, and the Wyoming Department of Transportation is encouraging volunteers to take advantage of the June weather by making the first of their two required cleanups for the year.

WYDOT says in past Spring Clean Flings, volunteers have removed over 50 tons of litter from along Wyoming highways.

Those volunteer efforts help WYDOT trim its litter control budget and keep annual spending in the neighborhood of $2.5 million.

"It's a big help to have these volunteers doing that work," says Dave Kingham, assistant public affairs manager for WYDOT. "It saves the taxpayers money, and helps the reputation of the state and improves the view that tourists who will be coming here this summer will see as they travel through the state."

Without the Adopt-A-Highway program, Kingham says many roadsides would not be cleaned and WYDOT spending would increase.

"Without their help, there would probably be sections of highway that wouldn't get cleaned every year," says Kingham. "Just because our budget is limited and we probably couldn't get to them."

This new video from WYDOT aims to help volunteers stay safe while keeping Wyoming highways pristine. It is available on DVD from the department’s five district Adopt-A-Highway coordinators across the state.

http://www.dot.state.wy.us/files/live/sites/wydot/files/shared/Public%20Affairs/Videos/AdoptAHighway_RevisedMaster.flv

Anyone interested in adopting a highway section can contact one of these district program coordinators:

  • 745‑2100, for Laramie, Albany and Carbon counties;
  • 473-3200, for Natrona, Converse, Platte, Niobrara, Goshen, northern Carbon, and southern Johnson counties;
  • 352‑3050, for Sweetwater, Uinta, Lincoln, Sublette, and western Teton counties;
  • 674‑2300, for Sheridan, Campbell, Crook, Weston, northern Johnson, and northern Niobrara counties; and
  • 568‑3400, for Park, Fremont, Hot Springs, Washakie, Big Horn and eastern Teton counties.

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