Harrisburg — The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation on Tuesday marked the 30th anniversary of its Adopt-A-Highway program.

The program involves volunteers who “adopt” a highway to collect litter. The program currently has more than 4,900 participating groups, more than 100,000 volunteers and more than 10,000 miles of adopted state-maintained roadways.

“The selfless actions of our Adopt-A-Highway volunteers has had an incredible impact on the commonwealth and its citizens,” said PennDOT Secretary Leslie S. Richards. “Their efforts have helped present a positive impression of Pennsylvania to visitors for the past 30 years, and we are truly grateful.”

The savings generated by these programs — more than $5 million annually that the department would have spent to pick up litter — allows PennDOT to redirect money toward maintaining safe roadways.

PennDOT also offers volunteers the opportunity to add landscaping to its litter collection efforts by way of the Adopt and Beautify program.

More information on the roadside beautification efforts can be found on PennDOT’s website.