Strange black borders on roads

Sometimes the lanes are done in concrete to be durable, but the shoulders are only patched with asphalt because they're used less often.

No. It's obviously a modification of the picture. The global picture does'nt have any black pixel. This image lacks contrast. There is not black pixel nowhere, even in the shadows. These black borders were traced after the snapshot.

I was about to disagree with dda too, but now I think he's right. Upping the gamma of the image still shows the black spots as pure black while all other shadow and dark sections are lightened. This suggests use of pure RGB black in the digital form of the imagery (before compression; there are minor artifacts visible in the black at gamma +7).

The only other explanation would be that the shadows left by the walls of the bridges and ramps are intensely darker than the shadows formed by trees and buildings and the bridges themselves (on roads below). I don't think so.

Thanks for the huge pile of "fixes" today. We really apperciate it!

Thanks Romulusns.
Those black lines are still strange and unexplained... but now I know that I'm not alone anymore to think that. :)

With the virtualearth link, you can zoom a lot more. But the lines are closer but still black.