Darth Vader Adopts Stretch of Virginia Highway

From a galaxy far, far away, to a highway close to home, Darth Vader’s reach continues to expand.

Seeing more of Vader was to be expected with the new Star Wars film slated to open later this year, but Virginia residents were certainly caught by surprise when they saw signs indicating the infamous movie villain had adopted a highway in the commonwealth.

Vader’s highway is a stretch of U.S. 460 near Toms Creek Road Bridge in Blacksburg, and it has actually been adopted by Montgomery County Schools bus driver Henry Wakley.

“I just thought it would be funny for people to drive by, see the sign first and then actually see someone dressed up picking up trash,” Wakley told ABC News 10.

Wakley formally applied for the highway to be adopted in Darth Vader’s name with the Adopt-a-Highway program, which is not illegal so long as you follow the proper protocol anyone must follow to adopt a highway in Virginia.

As one of the guidelines Wakley reportedly had to complete in order to not only adopt the highway but have a sign with Vader’s name installed along the highway, he cleaned the highway twice in the last 10 months, donning a Vader mask both times. He’ll be back out cleaning the roadway this month.

Wakley thought the idea for Darth Vader to adopt the highway was not only fun, but a way to draw more attention to Adopt-a-Highway.

While his adoption may be among the most unique, it is far from the first newsworthy highway adoption. According to Entertainment Weekly, both Bette Midler and the late Robin Williams adopted highways in the 1990s.

More recently, the program has drawn attention for controversial groups looking to improve their image and clean up local roads. The Huffington Post reported a neo-nazi group adopted a Delaware highway in 2011, while CNN reported in 2012 that the KKK tried and failed to adopt a highway in Georgia.

Virginia is much more content with Wakley’s effort. One Virginia Department of Transportation engineer told News 10 he believes a group of Jimmy Buffet super fans claim a highway somewhere in the commonwealth, but that Darth Vader’s highway takes the idea lightyears farther than the rest.

Image credit: WSLS