People not littering roads could save California $67 million annually

You see it along the highway, clinging to the fences, wrapped around bushes or filling up culverts and blowing along the road. "It" is trash, an ever-growing and costly problem in California.

Last year, California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) spent $67 million on litter removal, collecting enough litter, trash, and debris from highways to fill almost 9,000 garbage trucks.

“That money would have been better spent fixing our roads,” said Caltrans Director Malcolm Dougherty.

“Roadside litter negatively impacts our environment, clogs storm drains and often makes its way into our streams, rivers, and oceans,” Dougherty said. “We ask all Californians to dispose of litter responsibly, and to secure their loads before traveling.”

Caltrans workers in the Sacramento Valley, Sierra and across the state were out picking up litter Thursday to tackle trash.

In the Sierra, litter pick-up teams worked along State Highway 89 north of Truckee. In the Valley, maintenance crews wprked along State Highway 162 near Miners Ranch Road in the Oroville area.

Dougherty and his executive team are teaming up with members of a newly formed Caltrans Veterans Outreach Program to help remove litter from along State Route 99 at Broadway in Sacramento.

The Veterans Outreach Program is a transitional employment program for men and women returning from duty and re-entering civilian life, and also assists veterans who may need help re-entering the workforce.

The Veterans Outreach Program is possible through an innovative collaboration between Caltrans and the Butte County Office of Education (BCOE). The program will have crews in San Diego, Bakersfield, San Diego and Visalia.

For more information on this partnership, visit https://www.bcoe.org/divisions/Statewide%20and%20Local%20Support%20Services/back_2_work/caltransvete...

Community members also can keep our highways safe and clean through the Adopt-A-Highway Program where participation can include one or more of the following activities:

- Removing litter (work frequency varies with location).
- Planting and establishing trees or wildflowers.
- Removing graffiti.
- Controlling vegetation

To learn more about California’s Adopt-A-Highway Program in the Sacramento Valley and Sierra regopms, please contact (530) 741-4002 or visit the website at:

http://www.dot.ca.gov/maintenance/adopt-a-highway/index.html

Established in 1989, the Adopt-A-Highway program has evolved into one of the most government-public partnerships of our time. More than 120,000 Californians have cleaned and enhanced over 15,000 shoulder-miles of roadside.