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TUCSON - Two state agencies have come together to clean-up Arizona's Interstate 10.

It's an operation that has inmates bagging up trash and picking up debris along the highway, and the idea is taking eye sores out of your commute.

It's called Operation Clean Sweep and since Monday has acquired 10 tons of garbage.

Robert Patton with the Arizona Department of Corrections said, "Thus far we've cleaned over 2,000 bags of trash off the freeway."

Operation Clean Sweep utilizes approximately 80 inmates from five different prison units and they're tackling the cleaning of I-10 between Tucson and Phoenix.

The operation was formulated by ADOT and the Arizona Department of Corrections is using inmates to clean the highway instead of prison yards, and it's cost effective.

Patton said, "Most importantly it's a public win because they get clean highways at a very, very low cost, and the current cost is about $240 a day."

ADOT says they spend more than $8 million per year across the state picking up litter.

That's without Operation Clean Wweep, and ADOT tells us they're not sure how much money it's saving yet, but will know as the project moves along.

Linda Ritter with ADOT said, "I think it's absolutely critical for Arizona to have clean highways so that the tourists the visitors coming here can see what a beautiful state we have."

The DOC says inmate labor is a very under utilized work force in this state.

"The inmates work extremely hard, it gives them something meaningful to do and gives back to the community," Patton said.

All together, state agencies and inmates are cleaning up the streets, and ADOT says there may be opportunities in the future for an expanded program in other areas.