Reclaim? Before cars, the streets were filled with horses, carts, and streetcars pulled by horses. Many of which were larger than vehicles today. There was absolutely never a time in the history of developed roads where they were only or even mostly for pedestrian use. I mean, we're talking back to the romans here. Rome was far louder than nearly any city today because of the traffic of horses and carts with iron rimmed wheels on cobblestones.

Oh, and the bicycle is about the same age as the car. Roads were never developed with them in mind, either. The width of a road lane was set by the width needed for a cart pulled by two horses side by side.