Volunteers collect 'depressing volume' of roadside trash across the state

For Aspinwall resident Kevin Kerr, the worst part of cleaning litter from Freeport Road is the sheer number of cigarette butts.

“We get the food wrappers and pop cans, but the most frustrating and plentiful is definitely the butts,” said Kerr, who volunteers twice a year for the state’s Adopt-A-Highway program.

He’s not wrong.

According to PennDOT, which runs the civic-minded initiative, volunteers have rid more than 186 million cigarette butts from trash scattered about state roads and interchanges since the program began in 1990.

A 2019 study found that of a total 500 million pieces of litter collected, most of it was cigarette butts, plastics and food packaging. Specifically, volunteers picked up 1.8 million paper fast-food cups, 39 million food wrappers, 1 million store receipts and more than 4.1 million water bottles.

PennDOT spends upward of $14 million a year on litter control, prevention and remediation programs on the 40,000-plus miles of state-maintained highways.

“Our volunteers are valuable partners. They help us tremendously,” said Melissa Maczko, community relations coordinator for PennDOT District 12.

Nationally, the idea for Adopt-A-Highway was born in 1984 when an engineer for the Texas Department of Transportation saw litter blowing from the back of a pickup. He devised the plan as a way to cut government cleanup costs by seeking community groups to help with the labor.

It was a few years later that Pennsylvania enlisted residents to clear the roadsides, two miles at a time. The program sees participants on state highway rights of ways, interchange areas, traffic islands and roads. Efforts are highlighted by a roadside sign touting who beautifies each segment.

Kerr volunteers with the Aspinwall Democratic Committee, which has a hearty turnout of about 15 people each time. They collect fast-food bags and plastic bottles from the grassy stretch of Freeport Road along the Norfolk Southern rail lines, from the Highland Park Bridge to UPMC St. Margaret.

“It’s a very busy road,” he said. “The volume is significant.”

He and others who participate in the Adopt-A-Highway program said the trash leaves a bad impression on motorists — especially visitors.

“It’s the gateway into our town,” Kerr said. “Aspinwall is tight-knit and proud. We want it to look good.”

Penn Hills Rotary President Tyler Tomasino agrees.

An active participant in Adopt-A-Highway and other townwide cleanups, Tomasino said the good news is litter is an issue that can be tackled by everyone.

“It’s a problem we can all help solve,” he said.

“It’s a challenge in every community, some more than others, but that nobody really seems to have a solution for. If you give an hour here or there, it makes a difference.”

Through the state program, Tomasino has worked several times along Verona Road to help restore pride at the town’s entrance.

He said PennDOT provides safety training, as well as supplies that include vests, gloves and trash bags. They also arrange to pick up filled bags afterward.

“I got involved a couple of years ago and, when I realized how big of an issue it is, I just kept going back,” he said.

Most of the litter comes from drivers tossing it out of their windows or people at bus stops discarding trash onto the ground, officials said. Some is from trucks not securing loads.

“The true solution to the immense litter problem in Pennsylvania is simply for people to not litter,” PennDOT District 12 Executive Rachel Duda said.

“We will continue with education efforts and media campaigns. We plead that people make an effort to not only clean up litter, but make a commitment to not litter and to encourage others to do the same.”

Regional effort

Nicole Haney, community relations coordinator for District 11, said the Adopt-A-Highway efforts help beautify Pennsylvania’s collective “front yard.”

Last year in Allegheny County, 145 groups collected more than 2,500 bags of garbage, Haney said. They covered nearly 170 miles of road.

In Westmoreland County, volunteers cover more than 190 miles.

Maczko said there are thousands of participants statewide but noted that “we are always looking for more groups.”

With 150,000 acres of roadside across the state, there is always a spot not too far from home to clean.

Pat Harris, a member of the Forest Hills environmental advisory council, believes the result is worth the effort.

She joined a handful of others in April, as part of Earth Day celebrations, to clean the exit ramp off the Parkway East leading to Ardmore Boulevard.

“It’s a little bit depressing to come off the parkway and see that line of trash,” Harris said. “We want to have that look as nice as the rest of town does.”

Harris has helped to organize community cleanups for several years but said the Adopt-A-Highway effort was new to her group — and people noticed.

“There was an outpouring of gratitude for the effort,” she said.

She said the trash was commonplace, consisting of fast-food containers and a tremendous amount of beer cans.

PennDOT crews worked with them to ensure volunteers felt safe along the highway. The group filled 30 large, black bags.

“It was nothing strange but the quantity was depressing,” Harris said. “I’d like to make a plea that our public space is as important as our private space. When you don’t want something in your car, we don’t want it on the ground either.”