Kane County Democratic News

Hampshire & Rutland Democrats Adopt a Highway

By Phil Heil | Rutland Township Democrats

I think it was 2019 when a call went out to volunteer to pick up litter in St Charles along Kirk Rd. I drove from Huntley to St.Charles and met with a group of other Dems and were issued grabbers, reflective vests, and bags, and headed out.

I paired up the another PC, can’t remember his name, but he’s a train engineer, either on Metra or the BNSF. Anyway, we had a nice conversation about his work. I was impressed that Dems had their name out on a sign announcing “Adopt a highway”.

I thought it would be a good idea to do the same thing in Rutland Township. There are lots of rural county roads that need to be cleaned up.

I live in Sun City and interact with older Sun City residents. I floated the idea with them and received blank stares. Not too many older residents willing to pick up trash in some culvert on some rural road.

So I contacted Ryan Hollister from Hampshire Township next to us and he was interested in partnering with us. With his labor and my initiative, we started to put together a joint approach.

I contacted Kane County department of transportation and applied to adopt a highway. Ryan suggested Allen Rd, near Hampshire. I saw that that road was not serviced by any other organization, so I asked for that one.

The approval process takes some time, has to be approved by KDOT, another committee and the County Board. We got approved last fall. KDOT placed the sign this winter. We’ve committed to two clean ups per year. Our first is scheduled for March 25, 2023!

hampshire rutland democrats adopt a highway