Originally Posted by
Iride01
I do understand that it's different in different places. We aren't talking about MUPs or bike lanes so I'm not sure where that fits in the conversation.
Around here the shoulders on the main roads that I ride have always been there. In recent years the practice has been that when they repave the intersections they paint bike lane symbols on the shoulders. So has it now become a bike lane for the entire length of the road? I suspect they are now counted as "bike lane miles" by the state and county to make the stats look better. But it's the same strip of pavement one way or the other.
Most of my riding is on two lane low traffic country roads but I'll ride the higher volume roads for a mile or two on some loops. The shoulders are well paved and clean and make fine bike lanes.