Highway cleanup program on hold

Tuesday, April 25, 2000 | 10:44 a.m.

State transportation officials have suspended the Adopt-a-Highway program while they explore safety issues in the wake of a March accident that claimed the lives of six teens picking up trash along Interstate 15.

"With what happened out there last month, it gives us an excuse to look at it," Bob MacKenzie, Nevada Department of Transportation spokesman, said Monday.

For now, all volunteer groups that have adopted stretches of state roads will be discouraged from staging cleanups until state officials figure out how or whether the statewide program will continue, MacKenzie said.

State records show 500 organizations have adopted roads in stretches ranging from 2 to 20 miles.

"We know it's a valuable program," MacKenzie said. "Our concern is that the program we have is safe for the people out there."

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