walk on freeway shoulder?

[Eway]

I just read this:

As we walked along the shoulder of 246, vehicles of all sizes hurtled by...

I was a little shocked and confused because in my country it's forbidden and unthinkable to walk on the shoulder of freeway. (Isn't 246 a freeway?) Just want to make sure if this "shoulder" is the shoulder I thought it was. (And in the US people can walk on the shoulders? )

[Casiopea]

Roads have "shoulders"; i.e., sides. "We walked on the [side of road] 246; not on the road, but beside the road.

Hope that helps.

[Tdol]

In the UK, we generally say the 'hard shoulder'.

[Eway]

Mmm.....in Taiwan, what we call "shoulder" is part of freeway. Cars that break down on the freeway can go to this shoulder part to wait for a tow truck or just fixed by their drivers. Cars without problems can not go to this shoulder part. And as it's part of freeway, it is certain that people can not walk on it. And ... only freeway has this so-called shoulder part because on a normal road you can just pull over along the road and don't especially need this design of shoulder. So, are we talking about the same thing/idea? Do roads in the US all have a shoulder (which simply refers to ...err..like the "margin" of the roads)?

[Tdol]

The hard shoulder in the UK, is a small lane on the sides of the motorway, which is not for driving or walking, but for emergencies.