“Attractive roadsides are important to Missouri drivers, therefore the work of our volunteers and MoDOT crews to keep them clean is very important as well,” says Jim Carney, MoDOT’s state maintenance engineer.
Currently, the department is tracking the numbers of miles adopted in a report called the Tracker. MoDOT’s Tracker is a tool to assess how well we deliver services and products to our customers. Much like a GPS tracking system, this tool can only show the direction in which the department is headed. We must determine if it is going in the right direction to best serve our customers.
MoDOT’s Mission and Value Statements provide the basis for the Tracker. The 18 results are outcomes that our customers expect to see as we fulfill our mission. Each performance measure listed on the Tracker is designed to help us focus on successfully achieving these results. The Tracker will be published quarterly to ensure accountability and allow our customers to see the progress we are making towards those results that they expect.
“Gathering this data and analyzing the information gives us an insight into the program so we can develop ways to keep our roadsides clean,” says Carney.
In recent years, the number of miles adopted has increased, but relatively slowly. With more than 32,000 roadway miles in the state highway system, thousands of additional miles are still available. The adopted miles have grown from 5,042 miles in 2002 to the current 5,251 miles.
To improve administration of the program, between 2000 and 2002, MoDOT examined all the adopter groups and released those who weren’t upholding their contracts. Therefore, the report shows a large decline in the roadway miles adopted between those two years.
In 2002, MoDOT revitalized the program, by partnering with the Department of Conservation to establish No MOre Trash! a litter prevention outreach campaign. The campaign encourages people to stop littering by educating them about the negative impacts of litter on the environment. It has increased interest in the Adopt-A-Highway program. Since 2002 the numbers of adopters have grown from 3,519 to 3,771.
Every adoption provides more people who help to keep our roadsides clean. If you know an individual or group who would be interested in adopting a portion of the thousands of miles still available, please encourage them to contact MoDOT at 1-888-ASK MODOT or email us at aah@modot.mo.gov, or visit our Web site.
For more information about MoDOT’s Tracker, visit www.modot.gov. For more information about No MOre Trash!, visit www.nomoretrash.org.
