Many passing lanes around here are narrow and leave no room for a car and a bicycle to co-exist.

It seems most of your arguments have to do with debris, something a traffic engineer should take into account but I suspect they don't plan cheapskate city managers/tax payers (who won't budget appropriate street cleaning schedules for bike lanes) into the bargain and from their view Bike lanes are a totally viable option. I find a bike lane without debris a nice option myself all arguments aside. I do know of many a cluttered lane though so I suppose that is a point that could be argued ad nauseum. As long as cars are in the majority I think traffic engineers will continue to see the bike lane as the utopian solution though as it will make the drivers happier having cyclists out of their way, and elected officials will tend to side with the majority.

The freeway question was one to see if you were really a fanatic about this and I am pleased to see you are not.