The adoption is complete.
1990s icon Jennie Garth, best known as Kelly Taylor from the hit TV show Beverly Hills 90210, is now a parent in Eagle Rock 90041 — sort of.
If you drive Los Angeles freeways and find yourself on the eastbound 134 Freeway heading towards Pasadena, you’ll drive through rolling hills above Eagle Rock, past the namesake boulder that casts an eagle’s shadow when the sun hits just right.
There, eagle-eyed observers may notice a new sign: “Adopt A Highway: Jennie Garth.”
Yes, the 90210 actor’s name is now on a section of a local freeway to help pay for litter removal and maintenance.
Garth, 52, has been somewhat of an environmental ambassador for Clean Water Action.
In November, she posted on X, “California is so beautiful. Let’s keep it that way. Picking up after your pet and throwing trash away in the right places help keep our waterways clean.”
We contacted Caltrans to find out if this was, indeed, the 90210 actress who had sponsored the highway. Rawaa Kassar, the Adopt-A-Highway coordinator, confirmed to KTLA that it is the same Jennie Garth, and now Garth herself is explaining more.
“I recently got the chance to make a PSA for Caltrans’ Stormwater Awareness campaign, and it allowed me the opportunity to “Adopt a Highway” here in my home state of California,” she told KTLA 5 News. “That means one of my favorite 2 mile stretches of the 134 – a road I’m on nearly every day – will be cleaned and enhanced in my name.”
Adopt-A-Highway has existed in California since 1989 and has now expanded nationwide.
Since its inception, the program has removed 2.5 million cubic yards of trash from local roadways.
By the way, Garth isn’t the first celebrity to adopt a highway. In 1995, Bette Midler adopted a section of the Long Island Expressway. Robin Williams once adopted a section of the famed California’s Highway 101.
As for Garth, this mission is personal.
“I am in constant admiration of the beauty around me in this incredible state. I know what a vital part of life our highways and our waterways play in the lives of Angelenos,” she said. “I care deeply about the environment and firmly stand behind the missions of CalTrans Stormwater Awareness and Adopt-A-Highway to make our everyday commutes safer and more beautiful.”