Fast facts:
• The first Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT) Adopt-A-Highway pickup of the year is April 5-13 for part of the Lower Peninsula.
• After the damaging ice storms and disaster declaration in northern lower Michigan, the spring pickup for the counties in that area will be rescheduled to May 10-18.
• The first pickup for the Upper Peninsula will also be May 10-18.
LANSING, Mich. - In the aftermath of the recent widespread ice storm, the Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT) will delay Adopt-A-Highway (AAH) pickups along highways in the northern Lower Peninsula. Damaging ice storms led to a disaster declaration in the area.
For safety reasons, the year's first AAH pickup in MDOT's North Region (Benzie, Grand Traverse, Kalkaska, Leelanau, Manistee, Missaukee, Wexford, Antrim, Charlevoix, Cheboygan, Crawford, Emmet, Otsego, Roscommon, Alcona, Alpena, Iosco, Montmorency, Ogemaw, Oscoda and Presque Isle counties) will be rescheduled for May 10-18 to coincide with the pickup dates for the Upper Peninsula.
Volunteers pick up litter three times each year. The first Adopt-A-Highway pickup of the year is April 5-13 for the rest of the Lower Peninsula. Statewide, there will be a summer pickup from July 12 to 20 and a fall pickup from Sept. 20 to 28.
AAH groups wear high-visibility, yellow-green safety vests required by federal regulations when working within a highway right of way. MDOT provides free vests and trash bags, and arranges to haul away the trash. Volunteers include members of various civic groups, businesses and families. Crew members have to be at least 12 years old, and each group must number at least three people.
Sections of highway are still available for adoption. Groups are asked to adopt a section for at least two years. AAH signs bearing a group's name are posted along the stretch of adopted highway. There is no fee to participate. Go to www.Michigan.gov/AdoptAHighway for more information.
