A volunteer effort to clean up rural roads is picking up speed on the outskirts of Lawrence.

Douglas County and Wakarusa Township officials are taking applications from individuals and organizations willing to pick up roadside trash twice a year.

Adopt Your Township Road Program signs greet drivers on East 1400 Road, just south of 31st Street. The new program enlists volunteers to keep the roads free of litter.

The county’s Adopt-a-Road Program currently backed by 10 organizations has been clearing aluminum cans, fast-food packages and other rubbish from ditches for more than a decade.

The township has welcomed assistance for three years from the Wakarusa Township Volunteer Fire Department, which cleans up a three-mile stretch of East 1400 Road (Louisiana Street), south of 31st Street.

New signs recognizing the commitment prompted Tom and Brandi McNish last week to adopt a mile of East 1600 Road near their house.

Township officials are hoping there are more people willing to help.

“Anytime that anyone wants to pick up trash, it’s a good community-service project for them, and it saves us a lot of time,” said George Hunsinger, who works on the township’s road crew. “It’s a good deal.”

The township and county programs are modeled after the long-established Adopt-a-Highway Program that lines up volunteers to clean along the sides of state and federal highways.

Volunteers supply the labor, while governments provide the trash bags, reflective vests and even temporary warning signs to help volunteers stay safe. Road crews then pick up the bagged trash and haul it away for disposal.

Groups participating in the county’s program include the Lawrence Bicycle Club, Clearfield Methodist Church, Earth We Are, Kansas University scholarship halls, KU’s ASCE chapter, Astaris, Eudora Lions Club, a Willow Springs youth group, Wal-Mart We Care and the senior council of the Lawrence Chamber of Commerce.

“It’s fantastic to have organizations do that,” said Keith Browning, the county’s director of Public Works. “I don’t think anyone wants to see litter on the sides of the road, and anything we can do to get the litter picked up is a great thing.”