路肩|ろかたrokata[0]heiban (flat)

1. nounshoulder (of a road); berm

• Related道端みちばたNeutralThe most common everyday word for the roadside, neutral in register; it covers anywhere beside the road, while 「路肩」 is a defined strip of the road structure.
• Related路頭ろとうWrittenWritten; the street or roadside, found above all in the set phrase 「路頭に迷う」, to end up homeless and destitute — not a word for the road shoulder.
• Related路傍ろぼうWrittenWritten and literary in flavor; most often seen in set phrases such as 「路傍の石」, a stone by the roadside.
• Related道辺みちべWrittenWritten and rare, with an archaic literary flavor; found mainly in waka and classical poetry.
• Related道傍どうぼうWrittenWritten and rare; synonymous with 「路傍」, and it just means the roadside, not a part of the road structure.
• Related道の辺WrittenAn archaic native-Japanese word for the roadside, seen mainly in poetry; it is not a traffic term.
• Related路辺WrittenWritten and rare; a general word for the side of a road, with no technical sense — not a traffic term.

Use 「路肩」 for the strip beside the carriageway, common in traffic news as in 「路肩に停車する」. For the roadside in daily speech say 「道端」; in written prose, 「路傍」. 「路頭」 appears mostly in 「路頭に迷う」, and the remaining words are rare or poetic written variants.

Usage comparisons are AI-assisted and cross-checked by multiple models; for study reference only

1. 道路どうろの端はしに位置いちする地帯ちたい。
2. （ろかた）（法令ほうれい）道路どうろの主要しゅよう構造こうぞう部ぶを保護ほごし、又または車道しゃどうの効用こうようを保たもつために、車道しゃどう、歩道ほどう、自転車じてんしゃ道又みちまたは自転車じてんしゃ歩行者ほこうしゃ道どうに接続せつぞくして設もうけられる帯おび状じょうの道路どうろの部分ぶぶん。（道路どうろ構造こうぞう令れい第だい2条じょう第だい11項こう）