Beautification

The Beautification Office of the Oklahoma Department of Transportation (ODOT) was established in 1985. The office oversees the Adopt-A-Highway (AAH) Program which was the fourth in the nation to be established. ODOT hosted the first National AAH Coordinator’s Convention. Other ODOT litter prevention activities include the popular Trash Poster Contest which receives 14,000+ student entries annually. From that, 40,000 calendars are produced and distributed to schools and other venues to remind everyone not to litter. A statewide Litter Hotline (1-888-5-Litter or 1-888-554-8837) provides motorists a place to report litterers who then receive a letter asking them to help keep Oklahoma clean. The annual spring TRASH-OFF has communities, counties, state parks, Corps of Engineers Lakes and AAH groups pitching in utilizing hundreds of volunteers. Late in the summer an awards presentation honors groups with the most volunteers, the most trash collected and the most unusual item(s) found. Winners receive "Hubcap" awards from ODOT, and other awards in regards to the "Great American Cleanup" (GAC) national project.

Landscaping programs include a $4 million Highway Tree Grant Program, a $648,000 grant for Oklahoma's share of the six state Prairie Passage wildflower trail and the long standing Roadside Wildflower Program in which ODOT has planted approximately 2,200 acres of wildflowers in the last 17 years. A recent venture was a highway art program with the first project being an 18 foot buffalo and calf statue on I-235 and 23rd Street in Oklahoma City. The sculpture was paid for by private donations.

Oklahoma DOT beautification efforts were recognized nationally by Keep America Beautiful and the Federal Highway Administration with first place awards in 1996, 1998, and 2000. ODOT and Retired Beautification Coordinator Joanne Orr were 1999 winners of the Excellence in Roadside Management Award from the National Roadside Vegetation Manager’s Association.

2007 was the first year ODOT partnered with Keep Oklahoma Beautiful, Inc. (KOB), and included all TRASH-OFF registrants in the "Great American Cleanup". Two major awards were and will continue to be presented to winners for the "Best Rookie Effort" and the "Best Overall ODOT TRASH-OFF Effort".