Adopt-a-Highway

    litter pick up photo cropped for banner image

     

    Virginia's Adopt-A-Highway program enlists the support of over 20,000 citizens in removing litter from Commonwealth roadsides. Running since the 1980's, this program is a key strategy in maintaining a positive travel experience for residents and visitors, and in preventing litter from entering local waterways.​

    Adopt-A-Highway Volunteer commitment:​

    • Adoption period: 3 years​
    • Highway segment: usually a minimum of 2-miles of VDOT-maintained highway. This map shows which roads are available for adoption.
    • Litter cleanups: at least two per calendar year. Volunteers agree to report their cleanup to VDOT.​
    • Age requirements: Must be 18 years to adopt a highway. Litter cleanup participants must be 10 years old to participate. Any minors aged 10-18 must be accompanied by an adult.​

    VDOT commitment: ​

    • Provides trash bags, safety equipment and safety training​
    • Adopt-A-Highway coordinators help determine roadways that are safe and suitable for adoption​
    • Install Adopt-A-Highway signs with your group's name at each end of your segment to recognize your commitment to keeping Virginia beautiful​
    • Pick up bagged litter from the roadside if you are unable to dispose of it​

    ​Please see our FAQ and Terms & Conditions to learn more.

    Report a pickup

    Adopt-a-Highway volunteers can report their pickup.

    How to adopt

    Adopt A Highway Virginia sign.

    VDOT is proud that you would consider joining the growing ranks of over 20,000 Adopt-A-Highway volunteers across Virginia. We all have a shared mission of keeping Virginia beautiful for residents and visitors. This is also a key part of Virginia's environmental strategy to prevent litter from entering wild areas and waterways.

    Participation in Virginia's Adopt-A-Highway program is free. Highway Adopters commit to cleaning your stretch of highway at least two times per year, for an adoption period of three years. Highway Adopters must report their pickups to VDOT so we can accurately account for your efforts.

    VDOT provides Highway Adopters with safety equipment and trash bags. VDOT will install two signs recognizing your group’s adoption after you have reported two successful litter pickups.

    How to apply to Adopt-A-Highway

    1. Review the Terms & Conditions and Safety Guidelines
    2. Review the Adopt-A-Highway map to see which highways are available for adoption. You may also contact your local Adopt-A-Highway Coordinator to discuss your interest.
    3. Complete the Adopt-A-Highway application and submit it by email to the local Adopt-A-Highway coordinator listed for your County.

    Adopt-A-Highway map

    Adopt-A-Highway map

    Review the Adopt-A-Highway map to see which highways are available for adoption.

    Terms and conditions

    1. The Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) is offering for "adoption" certain two-mile sections of state-maintained highways. Before offering these roadways, VDOT determines that they are safe and appropriate for adoption.
    2. Under special circumstances, sections of road less than two miles long and dead-end roads may be adopted. Contact the local VDOT Adopt-a-Highway coordinator for details.
    3. The local Adopt-a-Highway coordinator is the VDOT contact for adopting groups and individuals. Interested persons and groups should contact the coordinator at the local VDOT residency office listed in the telephone book or online at VDOT Adopt-a-Highway Adoption Coordinators. Information is also available by e-mailing AdoptaHighway@VDOT.Virginia.gov
    4. Local businesses, informal groups and formal organizations, such as civic, social or school groups, may adopt highways. VDOT will print the names of the organization or the adopting group in block letters on the blue and white Adopt-a-Highway signs. No slogans or logos are allowed.
    5. Individuals 18 years old or older may adopt highways (please see the "Safety Conditions" below for rules regarding participants under 18 years old).
    6. Adopting groups agree to pick up litter on both sides of the roadway at least two times a year.
    7. Participants adopt for a period of three years, after which they may renew their contract, modify their contract (example: choose a different section of highway), or end their contract.
    8. The adopting organization's Contact Person is responsible for ensuring that ANYONE who participates in a pickup under the adopting organization's permit has first received VDOT-supplied safety information, safety vests and trash bags.
    9. The organization's Contact Person must visit a VDOT residency or area maintenance headquarters at least a week before a scheduled pickup. At that time, VDOT will supply the Contact Person with safety information, safety vests, and plastic trash bags for every member of the adopting group's cleanup crew.
    10. On a group's original application and throughout a group's involvement with the Adopt-a-Highway program, the Contact Person in the group must inform VDOT of the ages of ANYONE under 18 years old who will participate in any of the group's pickups. This requirement includes children of the group's members, or any other children who are allowed by the adopting group to participate in a pickup. Children under age 10 may not participate.
    11. The Contact Person also is responsible for notifying VDOT - on the original application and throughout the group's involvement in the adoption - if any of the group's participants has a condition that might necessitate special safety precautions (example: if a pickup participant uses a wheelchair).
    12. VDOT will provide the group with large orange "Cleanup Crew Working" signs to place under the Adopt-a-Highway sign during each pickup.
    13. VDOT will pay for producing, installing and maintaining the blue Adopt-a-Highway signs.
    14. If the adopting group does not plan to dispose of the filled trash bags, the Contact Person must notify the local VDOT office of the date and location of the intended pickup so that VDOT can schedule a work crew to dispose of the trash bags during the following week.
    15. VDOT encourages participants to separate and recycle materials.
    16. After each pickup, the Contact Person must complete a Pickup Report Card (pre-addressed cards that are furnished by VDOT at the time of adoption) and send it to the local VDOT residency via U.S. mail or online at VDOT Adopt-a-Highway Pickup Report. Pickups can also be reported by calling 1-800-FOR-ROAD (1-800-367-7623) or by e-mailing AdoptaHighway@VDOT.Virginia.gov. When making a Pickup Report, the Contact Person should report the permit number of the adoption, the number of people who participated in the pickup, the number of bags of litter collected, and the number of manhours spent (manhours equals the number of hours taken to complete the pickup multiplied by the number of participants). If a Contact Person is out of Pickup Report Cards, he or she should call the local Adopt-a-Highway coordinator to report the pickup and to order more cards. It is vital that the Contact Person report the pickup so the adopting organization can get proper credit for keeping Virginia beautiful.
    17. VDOT encourages Adopt-a-Highway participants to schedule their pickups to coincide with the spring "Earth Day" and the fall "Day to Serve."
    18. The Adopt-a-Highway coordinator will monitor the program in his or her area. VDOT reserves the right to deny an adoption request or cancel the adoption permit of any group, individual or business, based on any of these criteria:
      A. Concern for the safety of the participants, passing motorists or VDOT employees,  
      B. Expenses to VDOT above the normal Adopt-a-Highway program expenses, or
      C. Effectiveness of the participants' litter-control efforts.
    19. VDOT reserves the right to limit the number of adoptions for a single group and to limit shared adoptions to areas of identified need. For shared adoptions, each group must file a separate permit and participate in four pickups annually.
    1. Before a group applies to adopt a particular highway, the group's Contact Person should examine the road on the days and during the hours that the group intends to perform pickups to determine if roadside conditions during those times are appropriate for the ages and abilities of the group's members.
      Once the group has adopted a particular roadway, if at any time it feel its adopted section of highway has become unsafe for litter pickups, the group's Contact Person must contact the local VDOT Adopt-a-Highway coordinator. Local VDOT residency offices are listed online at VDOT Adopt-a-Highway Adoption Coordinators. VDOT will assign the group a section of roadway with which it is more comfortable.
    2. Participants must hold at least one safety meeting per year to review VDOT-supplied safety information. No one may participate in a pickup unless he or she has attended this meeting within the last 12 months. The participating group may hold the safety meeting immediately before a pickup; however, this meeting must be held in a safe, appropriate area, such as a parking lot.
    3. The participants are responsible for putting up or opening the "Cleanup Crew Working" signs before each pickup, and for removing or closing the sign after they have finished that day's pickup. These signs alert passing motorists that Adopt-a-Highway volunteers are on the side of the road ahead. If the signs are left open when no pickups are being conducted, motorists will begin to ignore the signs, creating a serious safety risk for Adopt-a-Highway volunteers when they are on the roadside.
    4. Adopt-a-Highway groups must provide at least one adult supervisor for every six children under 18 years old. For example: a group of between one and six children would need one supervisor, and a group of between seven and 12 children would need two adult supervisors.

    Adoption coordinators

    The Adopt-A-Highway program is managed by local coordinators in each VDOT residency. Contact your local area coordinator for questions or to apply to Adopt-A-Highway. General Adopt-A-Highway inquiries may be sent to the statewide coordinator at  adoptahighway@vdot.virginia.gov.

    Note: In the Hampton Roads area, the seven cities (Virginia Beach, Norfolk, Chesapeake, Portsmouth, Suffolk, Hampton and Newport News) have their own programs. Check their websites. 

    Counties Residency Email Phone
    Smyth, Washington Abingdon aah-abingdon@vdot.virginia.gov 276-676-5503
    Accomack, Northampton Accomac aah-accomac@vdot.virginia.gov 757-787-5856
    Amherst, Appomattox, Campbell, Nelson Appomattox aah-appomattox@vdot.virginia.gov 434-352-7135
    Charles City, Goochland, Hanover, Henrico ,New Kent Ashland aah-ashland@vdot.virginia.gov 804-585-3564
    Bedford, Franklin Bedford aah-bedford@vdot.virginia.gov 540-586-7910
    Albemarle, Greene, Madison Charlottesville aah-charlottesville@vdot.virginia.gov 434-293-0011
    Amelia, Chesterfield, Powhatan Chesterfield aah-chesterfield@vdot.virginia.gov 804-674-2800
    Floyd, Giles, Montgomery, Pulaski Christiansburg aah-christiansburg@vdot.virginia.gov 540-381-7201
    Clarke, Frederick, Shenandoah, Warren Edinburg aah-edinburg@vdot.virginia.gov 540-984-5600
    Arlington, Fairfax Fairfax aah-fairfax@vdot.virginia.gov 703-259-2357
    Buckingham, Charlotte, Cumberland, Prince Edward Farmville aah-farmville@vdot.virginia.gov 434-505-3424
    Greensville, Isle of Wright, Southampton, Sussex Franklin aah-franklin@vdot.virginia.gov 757-346-3072
    Caroline, Spotsylvania, Stafford Fredericksburg aah-fredericksburg@vdot.virginia.gov 540-899-4300
    Halifax, Pittsylvania Halifax aah-halifax@vdot.virginia.gov 434-476-6342
    Page, Rockingham, Augusta Harrisonburg aah-harrisonburg@vdot.virginia.gov 540-434-2586
    Buchanan, Russell, Tazewell Lebanon aah-lebanon@vdot.virginia.gov 276-889-7600
    Alleghany, Bath, Highland Lexington aah-lexington@vdot.virginia.gov 540-463-3108
    Loudoun Loudoun aah-loudoun@vdot.virginia.gov 703-737-2000
    Fluvanna, Louisa, Orange Louisa aah-louisa@vdot.virginia.gov 540-967-3710
    Henry, Patrick, Carroll Martinsville aah-martinsville@vdot.virginia.gov 276-629-2581
    Hampton Norfolk aah-norfolk@vdot.virginia.gov  
    King George, Lancaster, Northumberland, Richmond, Westmoreland Northern Neck aah-northernneck@vdot.virginia.gov 804-333-3696
    Dinwiddie, Nottoway, Prince George Petersburg aah-petersburg@vdot.virginia.gov 804-863-4000
    Prince William Prince William aah-princewilliam@vdot.virginia.gov 703-366-1924
    Botetourt, Craig, Roanoke Salem aah-salem@vdot.virginia.gov 540-387-5488
    Essex, Gloucester, King and Queen, King William ,Mathews, Middlesex Saluda aah-saluda@vdot.virginia.gov 804-758-2321
    Brunswick, Lunenburg, Mecklenburg Southhill aah-southhill@vdot.virginia.gov 434-774-2300
    Culpeper, Fauquier, Rappahannock Warrenton aah-warrenton@vdot.virginia.gov 540-347-6441
    James City, Surry, York Williamsburg aah-williamsburg@vdot.virginia.gov 757-253-5138
    Dickenson, Lee, Scott, Wise Wise aah-wise@vdot.virginia.gov 276-328-9331
    Bland, Grayson, Wythe Wytheville aah-wytheville@vdot.virginia.gov 276-228-2153

    Frequently asked questions

    Visit the adoption section to learn more. We recommend first reviewing the Terms & Conditions and Safety Guidelines to get familiar with what participation in Adopt-A-Highway entails. Next you will submit your application by email to the local Adopt-A-Highway Coordinator for your county.

    Once you have submitted the application and VDOT approves you, you will receive a permit for 3-years. Your coordinator will explain how to obtain safety vests, “crew working” signs, orange trash bags, and important safety training. After two documented pickups, VDOT will install your group’s Adopt-A-Highway sign recognizing your group’s adoption.

    This map shows you which highway segments are already adopted and which are available for adoption through VDOT. You can choose a route that is convenient to your home or workplace or one that you notice has a problem with litter accumulation. We recommend visiting the highway segment during the day and time that you anticipate collecting litter to verify that you feel comfortable with the traffic level, speed, and shoulders. Your local Adopt-A-Highway Coordinator will work with VDOT staff to ensure a route is safe prior to approving your application.

    If you are unsure of a highway segment to choose, contact your local Adopt-A-Highway Coordinator; they maintain a list of recommended highway segments based on VDOT assessment.

    In most cases, we ask you adopt a minimum of two miles. Volunteers are responsible for cleaning the roadside on each side of the adopted section. However, volunteers are asked to refrain from collecting litter from any medians, if present, to ensure your safety.

    There's no cost to volunteers, who provide a great service to VDOT and the commonwealth.

    As many as it takes. We recommend you have enough so pickups are manageable. We do have volunteers who make solo adoptions and are comfortable working their area by themselves.

    That depends on traffic volume, road location, group size and pickup frequency.

    Most say pickups are not taxing. But if you’re an individual who's adopted a highly traveled road to a landfill, you may have your work cut out for you.

    The local Adopt-a-Highway coordinator can help determine the condition of the road before you adopt.

    With your name on an Adopt-a-Highway sign, you’ll be recognized as community members who takes action.

    You’ll receive VDOT’s full support in achieving clean roadsides. We'll supply bags, vests and a friendly ear at our local office.

    You’ll be part of a top-notch environmental effort, joining tens of thousands of other Virginians in a program that's been nationally recognized for "superior progress in the prevention and collection of litter."

    Children are allowed to participate in highway adoptions and cleanups. However, there are very specific rules and procedures the group must follow for safety.

    The group's contact person must inform VDOT if anyone under age 18 will participate in any of the group's pickups.

    No one under 18 may participate in interstate or interchange cleanups. Groups must provide at least one adult supervisor for every six children under 18. 

    Set a date and time convenient for all participants. Be sure the pickup is in daylight hours. Avoid rush hour.

    Gather the group before passing out safety vests and orange bags. Check to see that everyone has gloves and closed-toe shoes.

    Take a few minutes to review basic safety issues.

    You should then be ready to start bagging trash.

    You may dispose of the collected trash yourself if you are able to.

    If you cannot dispose of the trash, you may leave the bags on the roadside in one or two places. When you submit your pickup report form, indicate that you left bags and leave a detailed comment as to where they were left, ideally noting the closest mile marker or intersection. This is crucial to notify VDOT to send crews to collect the bags. 

    As part of your Adopt-A-Highway permit agreement, each group must a select primary contact person. This person should ensure that they, or another person in the group, submits the Pickup Report form as soon as possible after completing the pickups. This allows VDOT to keep your permit in good standing, and to monitor the collective impact of Adopt-A-Highway volunteers’ litter removal across Virginia.

    Participants agree to clean their adopted stretch of highway at least two times a year for three years.

    Some volunteers do pickups more frequently. If you conduct pickups at regular intervals, you can estimate how often they need to be done to keep your section of road clean.

    Yes. "In Memory Of …" adoptions are permitted. 

    No. Signs are intended to recognize you or your group, not your message. Space is limited to 48 characters.

    Yes. However, business names on signs need to be the actual business name, with no additional advertising.

    For example: "B.J. Smith, A Tree-Cutting Service" wouldn’t be allowed if "A Tree-Cutting Service" wasn’t part of the business name.

    Unless it's the name of your business, websites aren't permitted on signs.

    Adopt-a-Highway volunteers clean more than 8,000 miles of highways annually. 

    Research has shown that Adopt-a-Highway roadsides are less littered than those maintained by road crews. 

    Children and young adults who pick up litter learn valuable lessons that can lead to life-long environmental awareness. 

    Seeing volunteers at work along the road often makes motorists think before carelessly discarding trash.

    It started in Texas in 1985.

    In Virginia, the program began in 1988 and is one of the largest programs in the country.

    Today, 48 states and Puerto Rico have instituted Adopt-a-Highway programs, along with Australia, Canada, Great Britain, Japan, Mexico, New Zealand and Spain. That's put one million volunteers to work along the road. 

    It has sparked many related programs, including Adopt-a-Spot, Adopt-a-Street and Adopt-a-Stream.

    Last updated: March 22, 2024

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