COARSEGOLD – Drivers and passersby may have noticed how clean Highway 41 is in the Coarsegold area. The bad news is, it’s not because tourists and locals have suddenly stopped throwing trash out of their cars. The good news is, the Coarsegold Chamber of Commerce has adopted a two-mile section of highway under the Cal Trans “Adopt A Highway” Program.
“Not only is this good for the community, it’s good for the area in general,” says chamber president Dave Wolin. “We’d rather help out Cal Trans so that they can concentrate on the hundreds of other road issues we have. Also, it doesn’t do any harm to project a clean highway image to the two-million-plus tourists who drive through here each year.”
Chamber volunteers are usually out at dawn on Sunday mornings, that being the best and safest time to pick up trash according to Cal Trans. Others in Coarsegold are participating also: Coarsegold Pharmacy has adopted a two-mile stretch of Highway 41, as has the “Keep Our Mountains Beautiful” group.
The Caltrans Adopt-A-Highway Program provides an avenue for individuals, organizations, or businesses to help maintain sections of roadside within California’s State Highway System. Groups have the option to participate as volunteers or to hire a maintenance service provider to perform the work on their behalf.
The Cal Trans Adopt-A-Highway program, which began in 1989, his considered a truly successful government-public partnership, as more than 120,000 Californians have cleaned and enhanced over 15,000 shoulder-miles of roadside to date.
More information? Contact the Coarsegold Chamber of Commerce – www.coarsegoldchamberofcommerce.com
