The regional (kind of like a county) government is doing this as regional roads in my area get resurfaced. Supposedly the extra non-travelled pavement on the road edges actually helps the road last longer between resurfacing, so it's expected to be cost-neutral in the long term.

If I'm on a rural road being overtaken by a semi, I get over to the right as far as I reasonably can, and that includes taking any gravel shoulder that doesn't look really gnarly. You never know who may be tailgating the truck--and many drivers are almost as impatient to get around a 'slow' truck as they are to get around a 'slow' bicycle.