What are legally required standards for road widths across the US? What are the differences between interstates and rural or city roads? I thought the min. standard road width is 12' everywhere but it's less sometimes like on some rural roads and city streets. Can you predict which ones will be less by map, google or GPS? Is there a min. required shoulder width or a required shoulder at all?When we're pulling our 8' wide TT on a multi-lane highway/freeway and someone drifts towards us, can we count on there always being 2' of road left to move over? Or if on a one-lane country road and someone approaching us is a bit too close or even over the center line, how much road can we always count on there being available to move over onto or available shoulder? One thing I learned last year is the a road marked in black on a state road map can not only be narrow, but full of curves, speed changes, elevation changes and potholes. No more roads marked in black for me...

The best answer I can come up with is to do your homework and 'drive' it using google maps.

We have state highways without center lines. Guess I won't see you there :B

coolbreeze01 wrote:We have state highways without center lines. Guess I won't see you there :BOh great. Will be going down to Monterey and over to Vegas this summer. I'd rather not have to detour around Ca...

Major freeways and arterials are typically 12' lanes.Secondary are frequently 11' lanes and local often 10' lanes.It's pretty rare to see less than 9' lanes.Of course even interstate freeways are allowed to use 10' during construction with 2' shy distance to obstructions.No hard and fast rules. You could use the measure function on google earth but probably more effort than it's worth.

I've not found any roads I would describe as too narrow, but then I don't get too far off the beaten path often.By far the scariest for me is freeway construction with Jersey barriers on the shoulder, with curves. Effectively NO shoulder, narrow, poorly-marked lanes and lots of traffic.

Standard road widths? | Good Sam Community

25 Replies

down_home
Explorer II
Jul 05, 2016
Indiana must use a Chinese tape to measure interstate width. I swear the lanes don't seem over nine feet. Passing semis move to the left and we move to the right to pass. Watching two semis side by side in front of the mirrors are only a ft apart many times. A strong wind is uncomfortable when trcks are around.
dave54
Nomad
Jul 05, 2016
gbopp wrote:
On Interstate Highways the lanes are 12'...

They are supposed to be, and maybe were originally, After multiple resurfacings and repainting they all are not 12'.
CavemanCharlie
Explorer III
Jul 05, 2016
The park I went to this last weekend and often frequent had a county highway leading to it that is a very narrow road. There is no shoulder. About 6 inches of grass and then a steep ditch.

You have to hope the other person is not drifting into your lane. I do think about it when meeting a another camper, semi, or farm tractor but, there is nothing I can do about it.

I've been driving on it for 37 years and I have never heard of anyone having a problem.

I do wish it had a few feet of shoulder. It would make me feel better. No chance of that happening in my lifetime though.
rhagfo
Explorer III
Jul 04, 2016
Well the roads here are far better and wider than those in Ireland. There are places there I could not think about towing our 5er, but there are bus and semis on them all the time.
Halmfamily
Explorer
Jul 04, 2016
Come down to Alabama and see how many wooden bridges you can find. We cross a sungle lane wooden bridge coming to our house, built over a hundred years ago and has a weight limit of 18 tons. My wife cringes every time time we cross it with our fiver and truck, all 24000 lbs. The bridge moans and groans as we cross over it. The road itself is only 18' wide and gets a little harry when two vehicles pass.
2gypsies1
Explorer III
Jul 03, 2016
We loved driving secondary roads in the West, including many, many mountain highways. We never felt it to be an issue for our 40' motorhome.

Don't overthink this! :)
3oaks
Explorer
Jul 03, 2016
gbopp wrote:
myredracer wrote:

I have no problems whatsoever staying dead center on the narrowest of roads regardless of curves, dips and speed. The wilder the more fun it is. I'm wondering how much room can be expected if you ever need to suddenly move over for any reason.

On the old narrow roads in the north east, you can't expect a certain amount of wiggle room. Some areas have no berm. Some have a few feet or more.
I take our 8.5' Southwind on narrow roads with no problems. I just slow down and be careful.
That's just the way it is in some areas.
X2

And our Arctic Fox is also 8.5' wide.
rhagfo
Explorer III
Jul 03, 2016
Well Myredracer, they vary while the standard is 12' on interstates it can vary. When it comes to secondary roads and state highways it can vary, from place to place on the same road.
This is a nice part of Oregon 26 from The Coast to Portland.

This a not so wide section down the road a bit.
Johno02
Explorer
Jul 03, 2016
Also, watch for towns with utility poles leaning in toward or over the outside lane. They usually have impact marks about 10' above the ground.
Johno02
Explorer
Jul 03, 2016
Like everyone has said, there are no standards in many places. Our solution in such places (LOTS of areas in West Virginia, and some in Tennessee) is to detach the toad, and send DW out in front with her cell phone. In areas of no cell service, we have a set of small radios. She can tell me of any problem areas coming up, and if there is any traffic coming toward me. That way I know that I can safely take blind curves and whatever, knowing that is is clear on the other side. Also she can warn me of any low underpasses or narrow bridges beforehand, and hopefully find a place to turn around if necessary. As far as major highways or interstates, High flyovers with low sides have only one lane. And it usually has a white line right down the center!

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Standard road widths?

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