Guide
Road closures on the coast highways
Checked September 12, 2026 against the Oregon Department of Transportation (ODOT), TripCheck and Caltrans.
The Highways tile repeats what ODOT reports on TripCheck for the roads in and out of your stretch of coast. From Astoria to Neskowin that is US 101 between the two, US 30 from Astoria down the Columbia to Clatskanie, US 26 from the Seaside junction over the Sunset summit, OR 6 from Tillamook over the Wilson River summit, OR 22 from Hebo to Grand Ronde, and OR 18 from Otis to Grand Ronde. From Lincoln City to Florence it is US 101 between the two, OR 18 from Lincoln City to McMinnville, OR 229 up the Siletz from Kernville, US 20 from Newport to Corvallis, OR 34 from Waldport to Corvallis, and OR 126 from Florence to Eugene. From Reedsport to Brookings it is US 101 from Reedsport to the California line, OR 38 from Reedsport to I-5, OR 42 from Coos Bay to I-5, OR 42S from Coquille to Bandon, and US 199 from the California line to Grants Pass.
If ODOT has closed a road, do not let your phone route you around it. ODOT warns that navigation apps may send you onto remote roads that are not maintained or passable, and says that if you do not know the area and current conditions, stay on state roads and don’t attempt alternate routes. It is better to stay the night in town than to be stuck on a remote road.
What the tile says
- Closed. ODOT has listed the incident as a closure, or its description says the road is closed. When ODOT’s wording is unclear, the board leans toward calling it a closure: the long way round costs an hour, and the other mistake sends someone into a slide.
- Chains. The report mentions chains or traction tires. That can be anything from “carry chains” to chains on every vehicle, so read the line under it, and see the chain rules below.
- Delay. Anything else ODOT reports: roadwork, a crash, a lane closed. Closures and chains are always shown in full; after three delays the rest are folded into a count.
- Nothing reported. TripCheck listed no closures, slides or chain requirements on your board’s roads when the board last checked, and the tile says when that was. TripCheck’s own reports work the same way: highways with no adverse conditions do not show up. If the board could not reach TripCheck it says so instead, and never shows that as open.
Slide season
ODOT says landslides are most common in winter, when heavy rain soaks the soil on unstable slopes, and that rockfall is also common in freezing weather. It names US 101 and the coastal mountain passes among the roads most prone to slides. Its advice: check the route on TripCheck before you go, and if a slide is affecting a route, use the recommended detour. If ODOT gives a detour, look for it in the incident on TripCheck; the tile shows ODOT’s own incident text under each row.
Chains and traction tires
When chains are needed, ODOT posts signs or lighted message signs. ODOT’s chain law page describes four, in this order (the short names are ours):
| In short | What ODOT says it means |
|---|---|
| Carry | You must have chains or traction tires in or on your vehicle, the right size and enough of them. |
| Chains: towing, or heavy single axle | Vehicles rated 10,000 lb or less that are towing must use chains, and so must any single drive axle vehicle over 10,000 lb. |
| Chains: towing, or any heavy vehicle | Any vehicle towing or rated over 10,000 lb must use chains. |
| Chains or traction tires: everyone | As above, and every other vehicle must use chains or traction tires. |
Some four-wheel and all-wheel drive passenger vehicles are exempt, but only if they meet all of ODOT’s conditions, including carrying chains and not towing. ODOT also says that in very bad winter conditions all vehicles may be required to use chains, and that it can impose a conditional closure on any state highway for certain vehicle types. Ignoring a chain sign is a traffic infraction.
US 199 is two states
From Brookings, the way to I-5 by US 199 runs south on US 101 into California and up 199 to the state line before it is back in Oregon. TripCheck, and this board, cover the Oregon part. For the California part, check Caltrans: QuickMap, road conditions by highway number, or 1-800-427-7623.
The highway cameras
The Highway cameras tile shows up to three of ODOT’s TripCheck cameras on your town’s own highways, nearest first, within 25 miles. Each row names the road, the direction the camera faces where ODOT gives one, and how far from town it is and which way.
The picture has its own clock. ODOT prints “Updated” and a time on every frame. That is the time of the picture: read it there. The date on the tile is a different thing — when this site last read ODOT’s list of cameras, which changes only when ODOT adds or retires one.
The picture comes straight from ODOT. Your browser fetches it from tripcheck.com; this site never handles it. If a frame will not load, the tile says ODOT is not serving that camera’s picture, and TripCheck itself is the place to look.
Mileposts. The milepost beside each camera is the one ODOT publishes for it in its TripCheck data feed, the same number ODOT prints on the frame. One thing to know at Bandon: the two cameras there, 2.1 miles apart, are Milepost 273.45 and Milepost 259.54, and both are right. The posted milepost on US 101 jumps by about twelve across those two miles of road — a milepost equation, in ODOT’s terms, where the numbering was reset without renumbering everything south of it. Do not turn a difference in mileposts into a distance there. A camera ODOT lists across the state line carries no milepost here.
Out of service. A camera ODOT lists as out of service never takes one of the three places; the tile counts them under the list instead.
No camera. Where ODOT has no camera on your highway within 25 miles, the tile says so and names the nearest one on that road, with its distance. That is the one place on this site an absence is spelled out, because what is missing is ODOT’s eye on a road you are about to drive.
The list of cameras was read from TripCheck’s camera inventory, and the mileposts from ODOT’s TripCheck data feed, on September 23, 2026; both are re-read twice a year.
Checking by phone
In Oregon, dial 511 for the same information TripCheck shows. If 511 does not connect, ODOT’s toll-free line is 800-977-6368; from outside Oregon, 503-588-2941. For an emergency on the road, call 911.
Sources
- ODOT TripCheck (the feed the board reads) and its road conditions reports by region: Northwest Oregon, which carries every Astoria to Neskowin road, and with West Oregon the Lincoln City to Florence roads, and Southwest Oregon for Reedsport to Brookings
- TripCheck, Oregon chain law and minimum chain requirements
- TripCheck, 511
- ODOT, landslides, debris flows and rockfalls
- ODOT, GPS navigation tips and Know before you go
- Caltrans QuickMap and Caltrans highway conditions