In 2007 there were 39 “Adopt a Highway” clean-ups conducted by 27 groups. As of April 2008, there are an additional 10 groups who have contacted the county to adopt a highway.

There are hundreds of county highways that can still be adopted out to groups who will help to keep them clean.

• Contact Materials Recovery Supervisor Tony Heet at (520) 866-6682 to begin process. Heet will meet with the group to discuss what is required to participate in the program.
• There is no cost to participate in the program.
• The road must be a highway which Pinal County oversees (an arterial or collector road). The County will not adopt out a residential road.
• The usual length of the adopted road is two miles, although it can be shorter in high litter areas.
• The group must file an application and special event waiver form with the Public Works Department. The waiver must include the names of the people who will volunteer to clean up the road and their signature.
• A safety class is conducted by the county for the group leader before they begin their clean-up.
• The county provides safety vests and large garbage bags to the group conducting the clean up.
• The county asks that the group conducts the clean up twice a year, although some groups make it a quarterly or monthly event.
• The county will place a green and white sign designating the group that is adopting that section of Pinal County highway.

Public Works crews benefit by not having to spend time picking up trash from a section of highway that needs repair. A cleaned-up section is much safer and quicker to work on than littered roads.