MnDOT Looking for 'Adopt-a-Highway' Volunteers

ST. CLOUD -- With Earth Day coming up many of us are thinking about ways we can help the planet. You can recycle or plant new trees but have you considered adopting a highway?

The Minnesota Department of Transportation is looking for volunteers for their Adopt-a-Highway project. It's where volunteers help clean up litter from a certain section of highway.

Over 1,700 stretches of roadways are available throughout the state including segments in the St. Cloud metro-area. Currently, more than 4,100 groups with over 16,000 people in Minnesota are "Adopt-a-Highway" volunteers.

Volunteers typically form groups through churches, schools, businesses or other organizations to be responsible for their section. Groups range anywhere from four to 25 people. Volunteers spent about 239,000 hours picking up more than 36,600 bags of trash last year.

Volunteers are expected to commit to the program for two-years and pick up litter on both sides of the roadway a minimum of twice a year.

If you would like to become a volunteer contact, Cindy Senger, she is the St. Cloud District contact. Her phone number is 320-223-6545.

Without volunteer help, MnDot would have spent about $6 million on roadside cleanup expenses in 2017