From the beginning of November, you will no longer be allowed to drive a car with studded tyres on Lönnrotinkatu in order to visit properties along the street, nor will you be allowed to park a car with studded tyres on the street. Only the inner courtyards and parking garages of residential plots may be accessed by vehicles with studded tyres.
The previous ban could not be enforced because of the additional sign allowing access to properties, and a large proportion of motorists using studded tyres did not comply with the ban.
The aim is to improve air quality by increasing the share of studless winter tyres
The aim of the three-year pilot on Lönnrotinkatu is to determine whether a stricter ban on studded tyres can increase the proportion of cars using friction tyres more than the previous pilot and thus improve air quality and reduce traffic noise.
Between autumn 2022 and spring 2025, the share of cars using studded tyres fell from 70% to 45% on Lönnrotinkatu, and from 70% to 60% in Helsinki overall. As the proportion of cars with studded tyres on Lönnrotinkatu has been relatively high, the impact of the decrease on air quality on the street has been minor.
Helsinki aims to further reduce the share of cars using studded tyres from the current 60% to 30% by 2030. The most effective way of doing this would be a studded tyre charge, which has been used in Norway, for example, but such a charge is not possible under current Finnish legislation.
Street dust is a growing challenge for Helsinki
High levels of street dust cause respiratory symptoms and infections and increase the incidence of asthma and bronchial attacks requiring hospitalisation, among other things. Street dust also reduces living comfort and causes irritation symptoms, such as colds and coughs and itching and stinging of the throat and eyes. In a survey carried out on Lönnrotinkatu, almost a quarter of residents said that they suffer from street dust symptoms to a moderately or very high degree. The European Union's new Ambient Air Quality Directive aims to reduce the harmful effects of street dust, to which end it will introduce stricter binding limit values for street dust, meaning inhalable particulate matter.
The new limit values must be achieved by 2030 at the latest. At present, they would be exceeded in many busy areas in Helsinki, including Lönnrotinkatu. Because of this, the City needs to take effective measures in order to reach the new limit values. Since up to half of street dust comes from asphalt released into the air by studded tyres, reducing the use of studded tyres is an effective way to reduce street dust levels.
According to the aforementioned survey, 40–50% of residents support a continued ban on studded tyres. The effectiveness of the extension period of the studded tyre ban pilot will be evaluated based on factors such as compliance with and enforceability of the ban, traffic volumes on alternative routes, the smooth flow of parking and maintenance traffic and public opinion on the appropriateness of a street-specific studded tyre ban. The impact of the pilot on the share of cars using studded tyres both on Lönnrotinkatu and in the city overall will be monitored throughout the extension period.
