One of the state government programs that is working very well is the TripCheck online service provided by ODOT.

There you are sitting in Southern Oregon in a snowstorm, wondering whether to buy chains for the drive back to the mid-valley. The television mentions that blizzard conditions have closed the interstate to California until further notice, but it says nothing about the highway to the north.

So you go online to the TripCheck Web site maintained by the Oregon Department of Transportation. There you learn that along I-5 north there are snow advisories but no chain requirements. More instructive, you can check the ODOT cameras on Sexton Summit and see that even though the hillsides are covered with snow, the pavement is wet but bare and the temperature is well above freezing.

Reassured, you take off for what turns out to be a drive that is completely uneventful, just the way you want.

Progress isn't always great, but in this case it is. (hh)