Weird google maps

[Shepard]

Google maps has given what appears to me a strange designation for certain routes I never knew existed... The Seaport/Northern Ave bridge is labelled "N380", as is the entire South Boston Bypass and the elevated part of D Street all the way to Fish Pier.

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=boston&sll=35.44386,-97.504917&sspn=0.018705,0.038495&ie=UTF8&hq=&hnear=Boston,+Suffolk,+Massachusetts&ll=42.353902,-71.049641&spn=0.002121,0.004812&z=18

I-93 southbound frontage is given as "N433"

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=boston&sll=35.44386,-97.504917&sspn=0.018705,0.038495&ie=UTF8&hq=&hnear=Boston,+Suffolk,+Massachusetts&ll=42.336167,-71.06531&spn=0.004243,0.009624&z=17

Columbia Road near I-93 is called "N120"

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=boston&sll=35.44386,-97.504917&sspn=0.018705,0.038495&ie=UTF8&hq=&hnear=Boston,+Suffolk,+Massachusetts&ll=42.321644,-71.053691&spn=0.004244,0.009624&z=17

Also, all of Beacon Hill is shown as parkland.

BC, Harvard and MIT (and possibly others, not BU though) are showing all university buildings.

Another change seems to include property boundaries.

And I'm seeing a lot more detail on railroad tracks.

Ch-ch-ch-changes....

[vanshnookenraggen]

Haha ftw?

I always like when they update Google Maps but this is strange.

Check it, they added building lots for the rest of the city.

[Shepard]

As a Gmaps junkie, I can tell you they've had lot boundaries in Australia for at least 6 months, and probably longer.

[Corey]

Also, all of Beacon Hill is shown as parkland.

It appears that this is becuase it's a national historic landmark. I just checked a few other sites that clearly aren't 'parks' and they have the same shade of green.

I just noticed that in Portland they have labeled Monument Square as a shopping center and seem to have added a pond...

http://img390.imageshack.us/img390/6890/monsquare.png (http://img390.imageshack.us/i/monsquare.png/)

[Lrfox]

Also, all of Beacon Hill is shown as parkland.

.

About 1/3 of Downtown New Bedford is shown as parkland because the "Whaling District" section is a National Historic Park. However, shading it green makes it appear as if there's a large, green park with gridlike streets in the center of town.

[jass]

Looks like MIT had some heavy expansion while BU shrunk.

[Shepard]

Does google maps have a way to turn off unverified user-added content? I was very surprised the other day to find the Empire State Building on fifth ave in Park Slope, Brooklyn.

[vanshnookenraggen]

Does google maps have a way to turn off unverified user-added content? I was very surprised the other day to find the Empire State Building on fifth ave in Park Slope, Brooklyn.

There are Wikipedia articles with bad GPS data that places things like Greenwood Cemetery in Maynard in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean (http://maps.google.com/?ie=UTF8&hq=&hnear=New+York,+Kings,+New+York&ll=38.013476,-70.598145&spn=6.715365,18.457031&z=7&iwloc=lyrftr:org.wikipedia.en,10446117785440894340 ,37.282795,-71.268311&lci=org.wikipedia.en).

[FrankG]

S. Huntington Ave. in JP is labeled "Mbta Green Line Trolley Suspended."

http://maps.google.com/maps?client=safari&q=S+Huntington+Ave,+Boston,+Suffolk,+Massachusetts&oe=UTF-8&ie=UTF8&hl=en&cd=3&geocode=FdPWhQIdG-vC-w&split=0&sll=42.338591,-71.093593&sspn=0.021406,0.040144&hq=&hnear=S+Huntington+Ave,+Boston,+Suffolk,+Massachus etts&ll=42.325713,-71.111927&spn=0.020116,0.038066&z=15

Also, the parking garage on Green St. in Central Square is labeled as a shopping mall:

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=250+green+street+cambridge+ma&sll=42.36376,-71.103151&sspn=0.005026,0.009516&ie=UTF8&hq=&hnear=250+Green+St,+Cambridge,+Middlesex,+Massachu setts+02139&z=16

[FrankG]

Shepard, the N- roads might be something akin to Connecticut's "secret routes":

http://www.kurumi.com/roads/ct/ct-secrets.html

[Shepard]

Thanks, Frank. I dunno, though. It might be real labels based on some sort of real designation, or it may just be on the basis of a random spreadsheet that google may or may not have mined online somewhere. It seems like gmaps is going through a convulsion of automated updates based on search. I really hope the human quality control kicks in... otherwise those of you who live in JP will be directing your guests onto "MBTA Green Line Suspended South."

As an aside, when the first online maps came out, the directions in Boston often took the Charles River to be a road. Take Massachusetts Ave to Charles River, Turn Right...

[Shepard]

Here's something else strange and new: geographic inaccuracies.

Take, for example, Fort Point Channel, compare map and satellite:

http://maps.google.com/?ie=UTF8&hq=&hnear=New+York,+Kings,+New+York&ll=42.345961,-71.057033&spn=0.002121,0.004812&z=18

[vanshnookenraggen]

I'd saw Google screwed the pooch on this one (instead of "that chicken").

[Shepard]

Nonexistant streets! Misspelled playing 'feilds'!!

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=250+green+street+cambridge+ma&sll=42.36376,-71.103151&sspn=0.005026,0.009516&ie=UTF8&hq=&hnear=250+Green+St,+Cambridge,+Middlesex,+Massachu setts+02139&z=

"Jesus streets" !

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=250+green+street+cambridge+ma&sll=42.36376,-71.103151&sspn=0.005026,0.009516&ie=UTF8&hq=&hnear=250+Green+St,+Cambridge,+Middlesex,+Massachu setts+02139&z=16

[Corey]

I just found out yesterday that you can right-click on the maps and 'report a problem.' Wonder how long the list of problems is so far....

Here's something else strange and new: geographic inaccuracies.

Take, for example, Fort Point Channel, compare map and satellite:

http://maps.google.com/?ie=UTF8&hq=&hnear=New+York,+Kings,+New+York&ll=42.345961,-71.057033&spn=0.002121,0.004812&z=18

I reported this one as "Building has fallen into the water!"

[Shepard]

Government center is a green park
The greenway is I-93
The synagogue in Charles River Park is called the Charles River Dam Bridge
The actual Charles River Dam is shown as a park

Where's the outrage?!

[Lrfox]

In many places (CT and RI anyway), Route 1A is also Route 1. They don't make the distinction.

[czsz]

Government center is a green park
The greenway is I-93
The synagogue in Charles River Park is called the Charles River Dam Bridge
The actual Charles River Dam is shown as a park

Where's the outrage?!

It's like a NIMBY fantasy map of Boston. Highways on top of one another for easy auto access and traffic-flowing ease. Parks everywhere.

(Even those picky Charlestown NIMBYs who fought against the naming of the Zakim Bridge are appeased by the removal of a synogogue...)

[Shepard]

http://img294.imageshack.us/img294/4403/bcecmistake.jpg

Interesting view of the BCEC. Thanks Google Maps - this will help me the next time I want to find the intersection of C St and Clalflin...

Were those the street alignments before the mammoth convention center took over? If so, the shame is that the small-footprint grid of Fort Point could easily have been continued on this giant parcel.

[aquaman]

I'll admit that the preponderance of variations from reailty seem like errors on Google's part, but mapmakers historically have included bogus streets, mislabeled addresses, etc., so as to be able to identify illegally made copies in copyright infringement cases. Like I said, that probably doesn't explain all the problems with Google Maps, but it could explain some of the more obvious ones (a pond in a part where none exists, etc.).

[vanshnookenraggen]

I remember they did a massive update not too long ago that was FILLED with tons of errors, like giant parks not filled in and such. I wish I knew more about how they updated their maps.

[Shepard]

It was when they dropped TeleAtlas that things began to go haywire. Now theyre moving towards a crowdsourcing model which means the maps will be about as trustworthy as wikipedia - i.e. debatable.

[czsz]

Were those the street alignments before the mammoth convention center took over? If so, the shame is that the small-footprint grid of Fort Point could easily have been continued on this giant parcel.

This is what I think/say every time that behemoth comes up and yet no one supports me on it. Boston needs a convention center to compete with Oklahoma City and Spokane for the Woolen Mittens Trade Show! How could one think otherwise!?