Six-inch-wide rumble stripes to be ground into the edge lines on rural roads in Ohio this year are meant to decrease accidents, but could cause problems for bicyclists.

The rumble stripes may be difficult to ride over and may not leave enough pavement on the road's shoulder for riders wary of pedaling in the traffic lane with speeding vehicles, cyclists say.

The Ohio Department of Transportation is spending $3.6 million to cut grooves 3/8 -inch deep into the pavement on the white line that divides the road lane and shoulder on about 1,600 miles of state roads.

The stripes are narrower and shallower than rumble strips milled into pavement on the shoulders of interstates. But they have the same function: Creating noise and vibration when vehicles drive over them to alert motorists that they are veering off the roadway, said ODOT spokesman Scott Varner.

Even though a 12-foot gap between each 50 feet of rumble stripe will allow bike riders to maneuver in and out of the lane, bicyclists remain concerned about safety. Some even question the need for the project.

"They are doing these on roads that they have no history or record of collisions or fatalities," said Ed Stewart of Elyria, a certified cycling instructor and founder of the Silver Wheels Cyling Club.

The Federal Highway Administration recommends rumble stripes on rural roads and provided the necessary funds to Ohio and other states. Putting them on painted edge lines increases visibility, Varner said.

Crashes by motorists who run off the road account for almost one-third of the deaths and serious injuries each year on the nation's highways, according to the federal agency. Many involve drivers who are distracted and tired. But studies have shown rumble stripes and rumble strips can decrease crashes by from 20 percent to 35 percent.

The rumble stripes will be placed on two-lane roads that have a speed limit of 50 mph or more, lanes at least 11 feet wide and shoulders at least two feet wide.

However, after learning of ODOT's plans, Stewart and cyclists in Lorain and Medina counties measured shoulders on roads slated for rumble stripes last month, finding some less than two feet wide.

And many of those roads were identified in the Northeast Ohio Areawide Coordinating Agency's 2008 regional bicycle plan as priority routes that should be improved for bicyclists because of heavy use, said NOACA transportation planner Sally Hanley. She said priority routes should have shoulders at least three feet wide.

Hanley, a bicyclist, said bicycles have a legal right to use the road and the shoulders are often filled with debris.

After meeting with NOACA staffers and bicyclists, ODOT agreed this month to alter its rumble stripe guidelines statewide. It will not put the stripes on any road designated by a metropolitan planning organization, like NOACA, as a bicycle route unless the shoulder is at least three feet wide.

About 30 miles of proposed rumble stripes will not be installed in Medina and Lorain counties because the shoulders were not wide enough, Varner said. A total of 28.6 miles of rumble stripes will be in Lorain County and 15.6 miles in Medina County.

Varner said the only ODOT district in the state contacted by concerned bicyclists was the district that includes Lorain and Medina counties. In northeast Ohio, rumble stripes also will be placed on some roads in Portage and Ashtabula counties.

Chuck Smith, the chairman of the Ohio Bicycle Federation, said in an e-mail that his organization is working with ODOT to make sure the rumble stripes don't adversely affect bicyclists.

Stewart said he teaches students to ride three or four feet from where the shoulder ends.

"A lot of times that is right on the edge line and they will be putting the rumble stripe right where we should be riding," he said.

Stewart said some Lorain County roads heavily used by bicyclists, including Ohio 57 east of Grafton, are still slated for rumble stripes. He thinks ODOT should reconsider.

"We use the roads just like everybody else," he said. "We just use them a little differently."