First step must be to outlaw studs

Douglas McDonald’s Thursday guest commentary about crumbling freeways caught my eye. Having frequently driven the nerve-wrackingly rough and noisy stretches of I-5 between Seattle and Tacoma, I was ready to read about his fix. How soon in the article, I wondered, would he discuss the root cause? To my surprise, he never even mentioned it!

Years ago I would sometimes put carbide tipped studs in my snow tires to gain arguably better icy road traction. But I became convinced of the damage studs were doing to road surfaces. It is now my belief that studs are the primary cause (at least here in Western Washington) for the rough concrete road surfaces discussed in Mr. McDonald’s article. As a taxpayer, I would feel better about my taxes being spent to repair road damage if the primary cause of that damage was first outlawed.

JOHN STEARMAN

Everett