There are More than 100 “Adopt-a-Highway” Programs in New Jersey
The New Jersey Clean Communities Council (NJCCC), which runs the state’s litter abatement program, in collaboration with the New Jersey Department of Transportation, has honored two organizations with “NJ DOT Adopt-a-Highway” awards.
Representatives of the Rotary Club of Bernardsville and CENTURY 21 Thomson & Co. accepted the statewide award for custodianship of public land at the 20th annual Clean Communities Expo and Awards Celebration, held Oct. 8 in Somerset.
Photo Caption: NJCCC and NJDOT officials present the “NJ DOT Adopt-a-Highway” award to representatives from the Rotary Club of Bernardsville.
The awards were presented in conjunction with two representatives of the state Department of Transportation (NJDOT): Jeff Christensen and Chris Yandoli.
“For more than 20 years, the NJ Clean Communities Council has worked in conjunction with the NJDOT to run the state’s Adopt a Highway Program,” explained NJCCC Executive Director JoAnn Gemenden. “Since 2021, we have doubled our volunteer groups from 50 to more than 100 groups!”
The Rotary Club, which held its initial cleanup through the Adopt-a-Highway program on April 13, 2016, has since logged 320 volunteer hours, collecting 107 bags of trash and 32 bags of recycling. The ongoing effort involved 185 volunteers.
The Rotary Club holds cleanups four times a year on Route 202, at milepost 38.5 to 37.5 southbound in Somerset County.
“This organization cleans their mile of highway on a consistent basis, completes and returns their litter data card in a timely manner, reuses their supplies and is overall a joy to work with,” said Pam Montague, NJCCC’s Adopt a Highway Coordinator. “Justin Lynch has been their group leader for many years and we are honored to recognize them.”
CENTURY 21 Thomson & Co., based in Red Bank, began its Adopt-a-Highway journey in 2017 at milepost Router 35 on Route 25. In June 2022, volunteers then began removing litter at two jughandles off Route 35 and then expanded their effort to two more jughandles in the Red Bank area.
CENTURY 21 Thomson & Co is lauded for logging 187 volunteer hours and collecting 61 bags of trash and 24 bags of recycling through the diligent work of 85 volunteers.
“This organization has a proven track record of consistently honoring the terms of its contract by conducting thorough cleanups, providing detailed reports, and demonstrating exceptional stewardship of supplies,” Gemenden said. “Under the capable leadership of Maria Cavano, the group continues to set a strong example of reliability and excellence. For anyone that does litter cleanup, entrance and exit ramps and jughandles are the bane of our existence so kudos to you, Century 21!”
The Adopt-a-Highway program continued to grow in 2025 with 15 new contracts from January through October. These new contracts represent community groups committed to keeping specific stretches of highways clean in Burlington, Hunterdon, Ocean, Salem and Somerset counties.
From January 1 through October 1, 2025, 956 Adopt a Highway volunteers devoted 2,257 hours to remove 636 bags of trash and 260 bags of recycling and cleaned almost 185 miles of New Jersey state highways. They note the lack of plastic bag litter on highways, confirming the value of the NJ’s single use plastic ban. The most common litter continues to be cigarette butts, small “airline size” liquor bottles and car parts.
BERNARDSVILLE – October 27, 2025