readshapefile() raises incorrect error msg regarding shpproj and shapelib

When plotting a shapefile using readshapefile()

m.readshapefile(shapefile_path, 'roads')

I received this error message:

ValueError: shapefile must have lat/lon vertices - it looks like this one has vertices in map projection coordinates. You can convert the shapefile to geographic coordinates using the shpproj utility from the shapelib tools (http://shapelib.maptools.org/shapelib-tools.html)

However, it appears that the specified module "shapelib" is no longer maintained or available. To add to the confusion, there is a completely different module that also goes by the name "shapelib" available on pypi and github, but that does not contain the functionality suggested above.

In regard to a suggested solution. I found the fix on this site to be useful for converting the shapefile and getting past this readshapefile() error.
http://fascicul.us/convert-display-shapefile-matplotlib.html

However, this conversion sometimes leads to a new error:

ValueError: readshapefile can only handle 2D shape types

Which I have yet to find a way to resolve

Inizia dal punto di ingresso readshapefile() e ispeziona il percorso di errore che consiglia shpproj di shapelib. Riproduci la conversione segnalata e il successivo errore “only handle 2D shape types”, quindi determina se le indicazioni o la gestione sono errate. Il lavoro è completato quando il messaggio di errore e le indicazioni sulla conversione riflettono accuratamente gli strumenti disponibili e i tipi di shape supportati.