Q: The other day when someone asked when Caltrans was going to clean up roadsides and underpasses, you missed a great opportunity to put in a heavy plug for people to not throw garbage on the roadsides!

You simply went along with the reader’s abdication of residents’ responsibilities to keep our roads clean. Please help by challenging readers not to litter.

P. Ainsworth, San Jose

A: Will do. And I agree. But there’s a major twist in litter control efforts. For the first time, Caltrans will offer Adopt-a-Highway volunteers up to $250 a month to pick up litter as part of its $1.1 billion, multiyear clean-up effort. That
includes $30 million over three years for the Adopt-a-Highway stipend, which will end June 30, 2024. Since July, Caltrans has collected nearly 2,500 tons of trash and made more than 600 conditional job offers as part of the program.

Adopt-a-Highway volunteers help create cleaner roadsides by removing litter, planting trees and flowers, clearing graffiti, and thinning overgrown vegetation. They also help prevent litter and other pollutants from entering state waterways. Caltrans will award stipends of up to $250 total per litter collection event, whether done by an individual or group, including:

  • $250 for each adopted highway segment
  • $62.50 for each ramp, or up to $250 for all four ramps at an interchange
  • Up to $250 for clean-up activities at other locations, such as along bike paths or at park-and-ride facilities
  • Caltrans will require volunteers to submit information ― including date, location, amount of trash collected, number of volunteers, hours worked and pictures ― following eligible clean-up activities to receive a stipend. Adopt-A-Highway participants are limited to one payment a month.

Pilot program stipends will be available to Adopt-a-Highway volunteers in Butte, Colusa, El Dorado, Glenn, Imperial, Nevada, Placer, Sacramento, San Diego, Sierra, Sutter, Yolo and Yuba counties. Caltrans expects to expand the program to the Bay Area and statewide in coming months.

Those interested in volunteering can visit CleanCA.com for more details and an online application, or call 866-ADOPTAHWY (886-236-7824).

Q: Every summer I spend a couple of months in Wisconsin where roadsides are nearly immaculate. Litter laws are enforced. As an example, a few years back my sister in Green Bay was given a ticket for throwing a banana peel out her car window. A banana peel!

P. Ainsworth, San Jose

A: There is more ahead in litter control efforts. San Jose has launched what it calls Cash for Trash, a pilot program to battle blight by having homeless folks pick up trash at encampments in exchange for reloadable cards from Mastercard.

Crews will distribute trash bags redeemable at $4 per bag. Funds can be used to pay for essential items, with restrictions on items including alcohol and tobacco.

Look for Gary Richards at Facebook.com/mr.roadshow, or contact him at mrroadshow@bayareanewsgroup.com or 408-920-5335.