Did Kramer Invent the Adopt-a-Highway Program?

Authored by Dr. Cliff Goodman, Jr. on 3/14/2011

Authored by Clifford Goodman

3/14/2011

Categories: MomDocs Online, Going Green

Categories: MomDocs Online, Going Green

Feb 20, 1997 – That’s the date when the world first got to see “The Pothole,” an episode of the hit TV sitcom "Seinfeld.” It includes a story line in which the character Kramer adopts a stretch of the fictional Arthur Burghardt Expressway through the real-life Adopt-a-Highway program. He takes his adoption a little too literally, as we’ll see below.

But neither Kramer nor the writers of “Seinfeld” invented the Adopt-a-Highway program. Its roots date way back to 1984, when James Evans, an engineer for the Texas Department of Transportation, noticed litter blowing out of the back of a pickup truck he was driving behind in Tyler, Texas. Concerned about the growing cost to the government of keeping roadways clean, Evans soon began asking community groups to volunteer to pick up trash along sections of local highways they could "adopt." Though Evans got no takers for his idea, Billy Black, the public information officer for the Tyler District of the Texas Department of Transportation, took up the cause and organized the first official Adopt-a-Highway program, which included training and equipment for volunteers. The first group to participate in the program was the Tyler Civitan Club, and on March 9, 1985, the DOT erected a sign to indicate that the group had adopted a two-mile stretch along Texas's Highway 69. Similar signs began popping up in the area as other groups volunteered to beautify their own stretches of highway. The program eventually spread to thousands of towns and cities across the U.S. and to such countries as Canada, Japan, and New Zealand.

Drs. Goodman & Partridge, OB/GYN, PLLC has even adopted stretches of highway in Gilbert and Chandler!

Businesses, schools, service organizations, clubs, families, and churches are among the main organizations to participate in the Adopt-a-Highway program (also known in some places as Sponsor-a-Highway). Many do it as memorials to departed loved ones. However, there has occasionally been a dark side. Some controversial groups have tried to become involved—and thereby receive signs along highways acknowledging their effort. After the State of Missouri rejected a hate group's application to join the program, the organization charged in court that the State had violated its free-speech rights. In 2005, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that Missouri could not prevent this group from participating in the Adopt-a-Highway program as long as the group's members picked up litter.

As for Kramer (played by Michael Richards) on "Seinfeld," he adopts the one-mile stretch of roadway because he was upset about failing highway infrastructure – hence the name “The Pothole.” His efforts to clean up quickly go awry. First, he repaints the highway, turning it from four lanes into two, which creates chaos among drivers. He then tries to change it back to two lanes and in the process, spills paint thinner on the pavement. A mail truck driven by the character Newman (Wayne Knight) generates sparks that ignite the paint thinner, causing his truck to catch fire.

Drive carefully, and don’t litter, please.