Ohio’s highways are turning into one big trash pickup route, and state crews are footing the bill in time and cash. New figures from the transportation department show roadside litter has surged in recent years, with crews in District 12 slogging through debris piles on Cleveland-area interstates. The spike has gotten so intense that officials say it is yanking workers and money away from the basic road work drivers actually care about, like repairs and resurfacing.
Post lays out the numbers
In a detailed Facebook breakdown, Ohio Department of Transportation District 12 Cleveland reported that Ohio’s average annual number of litter bags picked up on state roadways jumped from 425,160 in the years 2015 to 2020 to 623,933 in 2021 to 2025. That is a 46.7 percent increase. The same post notes that average labor hours spent removing litter climbed from 191,507 to 250,620, a 30.9 percent rise, and that annual ODOT roadside litter-removal costs rose from about $4 million in 2015 to 2023 to roughly $10 million projected for 2024 to 2026, which the post describes as roughly a 150 percent increase.
Local TV has been tracking the same trend. News 5 Cleveland cited ODOT officials and District 12 spokesperson Brent Kovacs, who stressed that the escalating cleanup bill is pulling crews off resurfacing and other maintenance projects. The station’s reporting also highlighted that ODOT crews and partners have collected millions of bags of trash statewide over the past decade, creating a recurring drain on road budgets.
Why the climb and who’s picking up the slack
ODOT and local coverage point to familiar culprits: unsecured truckloads that shed debris at highway speeds, food and drink containers tossed out of car windows, and the seasonal reveal after winter when melting snow exposes months of garbage. The cleanup grind is handled by a mix of ODOT crews, contracted teams and inmate crews, with Adopt-a-Highway volunteers covering additional stretches. WFIN reports that the department supplies volunteers with svbafety vests, bags and training, and also hires vendors to help with litter removal in metropolitan areas.
Communities are not just shrugging and driving past the mess. Community groups and city crews are organizing volunteer cleanups and public education efforts, while past ODOT messaging has tackle litter problem–style appeals aimed at Cleveland Browns fans and other Ohio drivers, asking them to stop pitching trash onto the interstate. Local nonprofits keep rolling out spring and summer pickup events, and ODOT’s training guidance for cleanup teams emphasizes keeping volunteers safe around live traffic while they work along the roadside.
ODOT is now leaning on drivers to do the basics: secure loads, stash garbage in trash cans instead of shoulders and ramps, and report illegal dumping so crews can shift their focus back to maintenance instead of constant trash retrieval. For anyone looking to help, ODOT’s technical materials and Adopt-a-Highway resources spell out how groups can sign up and operate safely, as detailed in ODOT's LTAP bulletin. Officials say the new numbers and District 12 photos are meant as a blunt reminder that all those “small” tosses from car windows add up to one very large tab for Ohio taxpayers.
