It can take six months for a problem reported along the side of Interstate 5 to be addressed by Caltrans.

It’s why Lathrop could soon take the work to its own hands.

Last week a reduced Lathrop City Council – consisting only of Vice Mayor Steve Dresser and Councilmen Paul Akinjo and Omar Ornelas – unanimously decided to postpone a request by city staff to submit an application to the Adopt-A-Highway program for the 4.5 miles of Interstate 5 that run through the heart of the community.

They’ll revisit the proposal when the council is at full-strength.

Part of the underlying reason for the continuation is because of staff’s request is to hire as many as two additional maintenance workers to staff the program – which will be sponsored in part by the State of California. Caltrans will donate all of the materials necessary to remove trash from the side of the highway.

Disposal would also be included.

“While city staff would be performing the labor for the vegetation control and litter collection, all of the materials and safety equipment for the litter removal would be provided by Caltrans through the Adopt-A-Highway program,” the proposal before the council read. “In addition, all of the litter filled trash bags are collected and disposed of by Caltrans.”

With so much money being dedicated to improving the Louise Avenue and Lathrop Road interchanges to the city – which some of the council had dubbed an “eyesore” for those getting off of the freeways that serve the major commercial corridors in town – the move would be an extension of the effort to help attract traffic and visitors.

If approved in whole, it will cost the city an estimated $86,000 annually to add a single position, but would give them access to the right-of-way currently maintained by the overloaded state transportation department. The money would come from the general fund through a budget amendment.

The contract with Caltrans would last for five years. It would permit the city to proceed with both wildflower and approved tree planting in sections along the arterial corridor. The permit could be cancelled prior to that term running its course, and there is no fee to either the agency or the city to apply.