I see that quite a few major roads in Ontario are getting paved shoulders, plenty wide enough for cyclists, despite not being marked as bike lanes/routes.

An example of this is HWY7/12 in Port Perry - all new shoulders.

There is a tag: cycleway=shoulder, which gives me reason to think that we should be doing this.

What say you guys?

Update: Bike Ottawa has some guidance on the matter. I’ll be using the cycleway=soulder tag for roads that have SMOOTH and WIDE shoulders that would work well for cyclists.

  • ramjambamalamEnglish
    3·
    9 months ago

    What are the rules or recommendations for cycling on shoulders?

    Personally, I tend to avoid them because they’re often littered with debris and cracks, and often end without notice, requiring a sudden lane change into the actual road.

    • Showroom7561OPEnglish
      3·
      9 months ago

      Personally, I tend to avoid them because they’re often littered with debris and cracks, and often end without notice, requiring a sudden lane change into the actual road.

      Yeah, that could be said of any road gutter, a.k.a. bike lane. LOL

      I’m going to go with what Bike Ottawa says on the matter:

      "Shoulder, not signed as a bike lane

      A single line of paint delineates the shoulder. No signage or bike symbols present. Map if there is enough space to bike, i.e. at least 2-3ft wide Parking on the shoulder is typically permitted.

      use: cycleway:left/right/both=shoulder" SOURCE