We encourage Jefferson City officials to prevent the new Adopt-A-Street initiative from becoming cluttered.
And we are encouraged that our concerns are shared by Britt Smith, who will supervise the program in his capacity as director of the city's Streets and Parking Division.
The city's Adopt-A-Street program is modeled from a template created by the Missouri Department of Transportation's Adopt-A-Highway program.
The city program will allow interested parties to adopt city streets or segments of streets for the purpose of cleaning roadside rubbish and litter.
In exchange, a roadside sign, blue with white letters, will acknowledge the efforts of the adopting party.
The program was approved Monday by the City Council and many details, including an online application, will be forthcoming. In the interim, interested parties may contact 634-6410 for more information.
Smith said the ordinance requires adopted streets or segments to be a half-mile or shorter, as determined by officials. He added roads should be in urban or commercial areas, as opposed to residential areas where neighbors routinely pick up litter.
A prime example, Smith said, is the proposal advanced by the recycling committee at RR Donnelly to adopt and clean a segment of Industrial Drive where its printing plant is located. The group's offer served as the impetus for the citywide program.
"The cleanup effort must realistically be needed," Smith said. "We don't want to replace litter with sign litter."
We concur.
The purpose of the Adopt-A-Street program is to help keep our community clean, not to line the streets with a surfeit of self-serving signs.