Kenosha County celebrated Earth Day today with the launch of a new Adopt-A-
Highway program.
Kenosha County Adopt-A-Highway is the county’s equivalent to the State of Wisconsin’s long-
running program, which gives organizations and individuals the opportunity to serve the
community by removing debris and litter alongside roadways.
County Executive Samantha Kerkman and other county officials kicked off the program at an
Earth Day event with students at Brighton School.
“I am proud to launch this program today, and this is the perfect time and place to do it,”
Kerkman said. “Expanding adopt-a-highway to our county roads offers an organized opportunity
for people interested in improving our environment, and their volunteer efforts will serve to
make our community that much more beautiful.”
Through the program, people and groups may adopt two-mile sections of any county trunk
highway. (City, village and town streets are not part of the program.) Adopters are expected to
perform regular cleanup tasks at least two times a year between April 1 and Nov. 1.
The county will provide adopters with safety vests, signs and trash bags, and adopters may
choose to be acknowledged on road signs at each end of their adopted segment. There is no cost
to the public to participate in the program.
Kerkman acknowledged County Board Supervisors Frederick Brookhouse and Keith Gray for
their support of the program, which the board approved unanimously earlier this month.
Brookhouse, who organized a community cleanup group in his Carol Beach neighborhood in
Pleasant Prairie, began championing a county adopt-a-highway effort when he joined the County
Board last April.
“This clean-highways initiative reflects our pride in our community and fosters a culture of good
citizenship,” Brookhouse said.