Today's Janesville Gazette carried the "good news" that "Weather-related emergencies handled 'without a hitch'." The local Wisconsin DOT dispatcher efficiently closed the major Chicago-Madison-Minneapolis/St. Paul Interstate highway when a semi jack-knifed. One crash, no lives lost. We are thankful for the life-saving response. The paper glowingly recorded the dispatcher averring that "The handling of Tuesday's closure was an encouraging practice run for future emergencies."

We hope not.

No one wants to risk life and limb in winter snow conditions, but closing a major transportation artery admits that Mother Nature won that round in the annual war against winter. There are certainly times when blizzard conditions can make a roadway impassible and unsafe; but road closures should be the last resort in preserving winter safety and mobilty.

Studies done at Marquette University in nearby Milwaukee show conclusively that timely application of salt and snow plowing are the most cost-effective defense against winter weather. They reduce traffic crashes by 85% and injuries even more -- 88.3%.

Moreover, closing a road is more than an inconvenience. Moving freight reliably is a major asset for the economy -- it means jobs and ensures the local economy can compete against regions -- and countries -- not so weather -challenged. That's why the Wisconsin Department of Local Affairs and Development produced a film, "Wisconsin Works in Winter," to use in its economic development efforts to convince industries to locate in the Badger State. Manufacturers need to get their workers to the plant, bring in raw materials and ship out finished goods, all on a reliable timetable, a timetable upset when winter maintenance efforts fail. Work done at Iowa State University documented that shippers value not only timely deliveries, but the costs of shipping delays, particularly "non-recurrent" delays they cannot anticipate.

So, hurray for WI DOT for its life-saving communications program, but rather than heralding a hopeful future pattern for winter storm response, we hope Wisconsin snowfighters do as they've done before: conduct a thoughtful post-storm debriefing to find out why their crews were unable to quell Mother Nature and keep cars and trucks moving safely on the road. Otherwise, when winter's snows close Wisconsin roadways, they may find the jobs have moved to Texas by Springtime.