Originally Posted by
Ngchen
Of course I am assuming that a shoulder exists to begin with. Also, there needs to be a "no parking" rule except in genuine breakdowns that is enforced with regard to it, and that there shouldn't be rumble strips. In terms of debris accumulation, I am actually curious as to whether shoulders accumulate more or less than bike lanes; one would think that the debris accumulation would be roughly equal.
Something else I'm wondering about is the "sweeping effect" of cars and such. Since cars sweep the lanes clear of debris, then hypothetically if there is enough bike traffic, would the bike traffic sweep the BL too?
Sweeping often is a serious problem in bike lanes. The road commission is
supposed to sweep BLs, becuase they are part of the roadway. The shoulder is not part of the roadway so there is less impetus to sweep them. From this point of view, a shoulder converted to a BL might be favorable.
BLs and shoulders would both accumulate car-swept debris equally. Bikes do not sweep pavement, no matter how many of them there are.