studded tire ban

How much damage do studded tires cause? ODOT study will find out

Buffered Bike Lane with a bike symbol and arrow pointing forward

ODOT’s last estimate blamed $50-60 million in
annual road damage on studded tire use.
(Photo by J. Maus/BikePortland)

Studded tires have been a thorn in the Oregon Department of Transportation’s side for many years. And it’s no surprise why. As federal funding and gas tax revenue fall off a cliff, the agency is struggling to pay its bills. Meanwhile those little spikes used by many Oregonians at the first hint of cold weather cause an estimated $50-60 million in damage each year. Now, 15 years after they first looked into the issue, ODOT has launched a new effort to learn more about how many people use studded tires and exactly how much damage they do.

Jeff Bernards will not quit.
(Photo © J. Maus/BikePortland)

A major grassroots effort aimed at getting a statewide ban on studded tires is down but not out.

Jeff Bernards, the man behind the Preserving Oregon Roads campaign, posted a thank-you message on his website yesterday announcing the news: “… we were unable to raise the necessary funds needed to hire paid signature gathers. As a result we won’t make the ballot this November.”

Bernards believes the millions of dollars in road damage studded tires cause in Oregon each year should be put to other uses. He and his volunteers created a large groundswell of momentum for the cause; but in the end it came down to cold, hard cash. As we shared back in February, he needed to find a sponsor willing to part with about $200,000 to bring the campaign over the finish line. That sponsor never materialized.

Bernards in his usual stance:
“Wanna sign?”
(Photos © J. Maus/BikePortland)

With all the talk about why our roads are full of ruts and potholes, I thought it’d be a good time to check in on an effort to ban studded tires in Oregon.

Since he embarked on his signature-gathering effort back in October, chief petitioner with Preserving Oregon Roads, Jeff Bernards, is well on his way to getting his initiative on the ballot. Bernards says they’ve got over 7,000 of the 87,213 signatures they need. That might not sound like a lot, but it’s a good start, especially since Bernards is still using only volunteers.

He estimates about 150 people have requested signature-gathering kits so far. That’s an encouraging sign, but Bernards knows that in order to meet the July 6th deadline, he needs to hire a professional firm that manages a team of paid signature gatherers. “We need to raise about $200,000, and we’re working on that right now,” Bernards told me via phone this morning.

(Photo: ODOT)

Jeff Bernards, the chief petitioner behind an effort to preserve Oregon roads by banning studded tires, says the Oregon Supreme Court has finally issued him a Ballot Title. According to Bernards, that crucial step in the process to put the ban to voters in 2012 means he can print up official signature sheets. Now he and his team of supporters will need to get 80,000 signatures — the final step to get the ban on the ballot.

It took seven months for the Ballot Title to be finalized. That’s thanks to what Bernards calls “delay tactics” by a PR firm and a legal team hired by Les Schwab Tire Centers to squelch his efforts. In a post on the BlueOregon blog last week, Bernards wrote:

Jeff Bernards

Portlander Jeff Bernards, a well-known citizen activist who started the “Get Lit” free bike light program and who won a BTA Alice Award in 2006, has made major progress since we last checked in on his effort to ban studded tires in Oregon.

Bernards is chief petitioner on a forthcoming ballot measure and is the force behind the “Preserving Oregon Roads” campaign. Bernards told us this morning that he has filed with the Oregon Secretary of State and he expects to begin the initial signature-gathering process in the next few weeks. By mid-March, he and his team expect to begin the long road toward gathering the 80,000 signatures he’ll need to get a measure on the November 2012 ballot.

Just say no.
(Graphic: BanStuddedTires.com)

Today is November 1st, the first official day of studded tire season in Oregon. Back in March we shared why people who ride bikes should care that studded tires do $50-60 million in road damage each year and we also shared that one man was committed to putting a stop to it.

Portland citizen activist Jeff Bernards and a group of volunteers want to ban studded tires in Oregon through a ballot initiative that would be filed in 2012. I checked in with Bernards today to see how things are going.

Remember Jeff Bernards? He’s the citizen activist I wrote about in early March who wants to push the state legislature to finally do something to curtail the use of studded tires. Since that story published, Bernards has been busy.

After many years of writing letters to the editor and testifying about the issue at City Council, Bernards is finally going to do something about it. Why? Studded tires do about $50-60 million in damage to Oregon roads each year (and ODOT spends about $11 million on repairs because of them — money that could be spent on other things).

Studded tires cause $50-60 million
in road damage across the state
each year — like these ruts on
N. Rosa Parks Way in Portland.
(Photo © J. Maus)

With a lack of funding for transportation projects such a major issue in this town, it’s not surprising that some activists are taking a serious look at studded tires. Why? According to the Oregon Department of Transportation, studded tires cause an estimated $50-60 million a year in road damage and ODOT spends $11 million a year fixing it.

Citizen activist Jeff Bernards has been trying to raise awareness of this issue for five years and says, despite contacting Governor Kulongoski’s office and PBOT and ODOT officials, he’s gotten “nowhere.” Now, Bernards wants to pursue a ballot initiative to ban studded tires. He explained his interest in this issue in a recent email:

How much damage do studded tires cause? ODOT study will find out

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