By: Claire Tribble
I know that we have all driven down the highways in Limestone County, and we have plenty of complaints about the quality of the roads. Guess what the Alabama Department of Transportation (ALDOT) spent $9.4 million on last year instead of repaving the roads? Picking up litter. That’s right, we could have had better highways, but instead, we paid people to pick up other people’s trash. While I’ve always known that ALDOT spends funding on litter cleanups, I had no idea exactly how much until my dear friend Sally dropped off a retired teacher’s newsletter with the stats from 2024.
The stats are broken down by region, and North Alabama’s litter removal — and remember this is highway and interstate roadsides only — costs $1,463,734.90. That’s the second lowest, so I suppose it could be much worse. But then let’s factor in the county and city roadsides. While I don’t have an exact dollar amount, last year Keep Athens-Limestone Beautiful removed 9,500 pounds of litter from Limestone County roadways at our events alone. And we can’t work highways and the interstate. The Limestone County Commissioners run litter crews that are picking up anywhere from 900-1200 pounds of litter per week in their districts. And they can’t touch highways or interstate either. Athens City is running a litter crew again, and boy, can you tell the difference.
Think of the time and money that we, the city and the county are spending on cleaning this up. There are so many better ways that this money could be spent. We could all be doing better things and offering more free services for everyone. The state could spend that money resurfacing, improving intersections, crosswalks, etc. I realize that we wouldn’t see that entire amount spent in Limestone County, but we would see some of it. Limestone County and the City of Athens could redistribute what they spend as well, but here we all are cleaning up the same spots and roads over and over.
And I get it, not all of it is intentional, but litter travels and it grows. Wind and rain move litter quickly. With all the rain we have had, I’m sure you’ve all seen trash floating in ditches and creeks, even floating down the streets into the drainage pipes. What is thrown on the sides of roads gets hit with lawnmowers and bush hogs, making many smaller pieces. When people don’t bag the trash that goes into the outside garbage can, guess what? Most of it is so lightweight that it blows out of the garbage trucks as they travel the roads. Even lightweight bags can fly out of the trucks. Take a look at the ditches on Hwy 72 West. And then think about how dangerous that stretch of highway is to have to cleanup.
Let’s do better, Limestone County. Stop and grab that piece of trash as you walk by it and toss it in the trash. Bag your trash before you dump it in the can. Secure things in the back of your truck or on your trailer. Quit throwing stuff out the window. Quit just flat out dumping your trash. Let’s spend money on improving Limestone County instead of picking up after people.
By: Claire Tribble – Executive Director,
Keep Athens-Limestone Beautiful
June 20, 2025
