Adopt-a-Road Program Coming to Doylestown Township

Government typically moves at a snail’s pace, but this was an offer too good for the Doylestown Township Board of Supervisors to waste time contemplating.

Less than a week after it was proposed – and with only a few minutes of discussion - supervisors on Tuesday night unanimously approved a proposal to give local businesses and organizations the opportunity participate in an “Adopt-a-Road” program.

The alacrity with which it passed surprised even Laura Powers, vice president of marketing for Furia Rubel Communications, which floated the idea to township officials earlier this month. 

“I didn’t think it would happen this quickly,” beamed Powers. 

Patterned after the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation’s “Adopt-a-Highway” program, businesses and organizations will volunteer to adopt a one-mile stretch of roadway owned by the Township. They will agree to pick up trash and litter four times a year for a minimum of two years. 

The Township will provide signs noting the volunteer effort and supply safety vests and trash bags, according to assistant township manager Sandra Zadell. It will also  host a training session to review safety skills, she said. 

Zadell said she was not aware of any other municipality in Bucks County that has such a program. Having volunteers take responsibility for periodically cleaning the roads will reduce the workload for the township’s road crew, she said. 

Zadell said the work will help keep the township’s stormwater management efforts on track by ensuring the ditches and nearby streams that carry rainwater are kept free of obstructions.

Powers said Furia Rubel, a marketing and public relations firm in the township, came up with the “Adopt-a-Road” program to celebrate its tenth anniversary in business. It will be the first of 10 community-service initiatives the firm will spearhead in the coming year, she said.

"It's a way for us and other businesses to give back to the community," she said. 

With just word-of-mouth promotion over the past five days, nine businesses have expressed interest in being part of the program, according to Powers. The township is hoping community organizations will jump on the bandwagon as well.

For more information or to volunteer, contact Zadell at info@doylestownpa.org.