Courtesy of Matthew Torrens
Mathew Torrens stands next to his sign on Highway 85 as part of the Adopt-A-Highway program.
Once a month on a stretch of Highway 85 near Blossom Hill Road, assistant principal Matthew Torrens dons a reflective vest and walks along the shoulder with a garbage picker tool, collecting litter that has accumulated in the preceding weeks. Nearby a sign lets passersby know that this 1-mile stretch is maintained by Matthew Torrens.
He maintains this section of highway as part of the Adopt-A-Highway program under the state agency Caltrans, which oversees California’s highways. This program, founded in 1989, invites individuals or groups to “adopt” sections of highways and volunteer to maintain them. It’s rare for individuals like Torrens to heed this call; more often businesses hire workers to do the cleanups in exchange for the positive advertising the large green signs convey.
Anyone can volunteer to clean up highways in most parts of the state, but this program offers a formal responsibility to do regular maintenance along with some legal protections.
Torrens became involved in Adopt-a-Highway when his wife Debbie began cleaning an offramp across from the highway in 2005. Torrens joined her in the effort later that year. Since then, his wife has taken a pause a couple of times, with Torrens eventually taking the lead and continuing to work solo ever since.
He officially adopted this stretch of Highway 85 in 2021 and cleans the roadside monthly, preferring to work alone due to the limited safe parking spots along the highway.
Apart from his name on a roadside sign, visible to the 123,900 cars that pass by daily, there was a brief period following COVID-19 where volunteers like Torrens received financial recognition for their work. In 2021 and 2022, California had a record-breaking $97.5 billion surplus, leading Caltrans to offer an incentive of up to $250 a month to volunteers as a way to promote highway cleanliness. However, as California quickly transitioned from surplus to a budget deficit, the incentive was discontinued, he said.
Working on the roadside comes with some hazards.
Caltrans addresses these by providing volunteers with essential supplies, including helmets, vests, gloves, pickers and bags, along with preliminary training.
“In training, they tell you what you can and cannot pick up,” Torrens said. “For example, you should leave needles and broken glass but bag anything else that fits. They also advise you to walk against traffic and to leave homeless encampments alone.”
During his cleanups, Torrens has encountered some unusual items. One of the most memorable finds was a freshly caught 25-pound halibut fish, which likely slid out of someone’s car.
“It was so fresh you could have taken it home for dinner. But I left it there to observe the natural decaying process. Eventually, it was eaten by animals,” Torrens said.
He’s also found items like driver’s licenses, which he returns to post offices, and license plates, which he collects in a stack at his house.
Despite these interesting finds, Torrens’ main motivation for volunteering remains simple: to keep his community clean.
“The most rewarding thing is helping your community and seeing the appreciation people have,” he said. “There’s a lot of people in my neighborhood that share the same community service attitude, and I’m glad I can contribute in my own way.”
Beyond Adopt-A-Highway, Torrens plays an active role in organizing service events at school. He coordinated the National Service Day on Martin Luther King Jr. Day at the school, where students took part in a variety of charity projects like making wigs out of yarn for cancer victims, collecting and packing warm clothes and survival kits for Sacred Heart, and assembling emergency snack bags for Martha’s Kitchen. He also organized a fundraiser back in 2017 at the school to aid victims of the Sonoma and Napa County fires, gathering water, clothes and canned goods.
Many students have recognized Torrens’ consistent efforts in helping the school and other communities.
“I frequently see Mr. Torrens involved in beautifying the school, whether by leading general campus improvement efforts or assisting teachers with setting up new furniture,” said senior Alan Cai, the school’s ASB president. “Additionally, he proposes many great ideas for service projects and takes initiative to bring them to life. Seeing someone so committed to giving back inspires others to do the same, and that’s what makes his impact truly lasting.”
