Brian, you are incorrect.  Otherwise, please explain why such ruts are not evident in asphalt road surfaces in places such as northern Michigan and Minnesota where studded tires are not used and have been illegal for decades.  As another poster noted, of COURSE such ruts will appear shortly after new asphalt is laid down, as the new asphalt will just conform to the existing ruts already underneath the new surface, ruts that are in fact caused primarily if not almost exclusively by studded tires.

It is long past time that studded tires are made illegal in Alaska as they have been everywhere else.  They are just a crutch for lazy drivers who refuse to exercise due caution in icy and snowy conditions.