Last May, the San Diego State chapter of Sigma Phi Epsilon officially took responsibility for a portion of the Interstate 805 with the Caltrans Adopt-A-Highway Program. The program began in 1989 and, according to Caltrans, has been one of the truly successful government-public partnerships of our time.
“It was pretty much the brainchild of one of the brothers,” SigEp’s Vice President of Communications Barak Alon said. “It’s a deal between us and Caltrans where we say we will maintain that section of freeway.”
Adoptions usually span a two-mile stretch of roadside and permits are issued for five-year periods, with an option to renew indefinitely for groups who remain in good standing. In exchange for having the sign and recognition, parties who adopt are responsible for removing litter, planting and establishing trees or wildflowers, removing graffiti or controlling vegetation.
“It was a six-month sign-up process, calling them back every couple of weeks to make sure it worked,” Alden Wood, a mechanical engineering senior said. “I thought it was time for me to give back to the community, and this was the best way to do it.”
The stretch of freeway adopted by Wood and his fraternity is located along I-805, slightly north of Interstate 8. Wood said this idea came to him when he was working on Interstate 405 during a summer internship, where he saw people cleaning along the highway and thought, “Why can’t our fraternity do that?”
There was no reason it couldn’t, but several reasons that it should, according to Associated Students Vice President of Finance Rob O’Keefe.
O’Keefe, also a member of SigEp, said that this is another way the fraternity brothers have been able to separate themselves from the stereotype sometimes associated with being in the Greek system.
“When we can provide a service to our campus community, we start to change those perceptions and show people that we’re not a bunch of drunk, self-centered frat boys, but that we’re philanthropists who care about others,” O’Keefe said. “What’s more, we’ve gotten calls from alumni from the ‘80s and ‘90s that have expressed how excited they were to see the sign on the way to work.”
Currently there is a backlog of program applicants because of a temporary moratorium on issuing new permits that was recently lifted, but Caltrans is still accepting applications. Any groups interested can find more information at adopt-a-highway.dot.ca.gov.
