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Pavement Ends
James Baughn

Google isn't perfect: Mount Tabor and other oddities

Posted Thursday, July 2, 2009, at 5:58 PM

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  • I feel I should point out an important point: Google is just a delivery system for this data, rather than the creator. There are good reasons why you'll see so many inconsistencies.

    - Problems with imagery & how up-to-date they are depend on imagery providers (GeoEye/Space Imaging/NASA, as well as local air-photo services like Cerdex). Google doesn't take any pictures - they purchase huge amounts of imagery already available to the public. If you see imagery from 2005, it just means there isn't a newer (better) image available yet.

    - Planimetry info (man-made stuff you see on the ground) comes from companies like Navtech/TeleAtlas - third-parties who make their money literally driving around the country taking note of street names, construction, businesses, etc. Again, Google just buys up huge chunks of this data, which is only updated if and when the data providers get back to an area.

    Just a few notes for anyone curious about how some of these oddities pop up. Trying to update every change in the world is impossible, so you'll always see anachronisms and incorrect info. But don't blame Google!

    -- Posted by FriendO on Fri, Jul 3, 2009, at 2:46 PM
  • On Perryville Road, North of Bertling, as you approach the stop sign at Cape Rock and Perryville, one side of the street has a different block on the addresses than the other side. I think that when you turn off Rt. 177 and travel East on Cape Rock, one side of the street is named Country Club Drive, and the other side is named Cape Rock Drive.

    -- Posted by Yankee Station on Sat, Jul 4, 2009, at 7:44 AM
  • I always thought it was a mistake to give up Mt. Tabor.

    I hope the powers that be resist the push to widen Bloomfield Rd. That's always been a pretty drive with all of the overhanging trees.

    If the road's too narrow for you, slow down. That road was here long before you were.

    -- Posted by Ken1 on Sat, Jul 4, 2009, at 12:40 PM
  • Cool info on the railroad. If you follow the old railroad with satellite view on, you can see where buildings that still stand today were built to conform to the track route. There are also track remnants by Standley Batch, near the bridge.

    -- Posted by wreckless76 on Mon, Jul 6, 2009, at 2:34 PM
  • Yankeestation: I found this story from 2003 describing the weird disagreement whether that stretch should be called Country Club Dr. or East Cape Rock Dr.:

    http://www.semissourian.com/story/112047.html

    wreckless76: I forgot about that stretch of rail that still crosses Aquamsi Street next to Standley Batch. Now that I think about it, I think there's still a post (milemarker? switch? signal?) standing along the old right of way next to Indian Park, visible from William St.

    Its_me: Bloomfield Road is ancient. One of the culverts has a date (I believe 1918) imprinted along the railing. Still, with the heavy traffic, it's almost inevitable that it will be widened or bypassed.

    FriendO: You're right about the various data sources that Google uses. All said, it's pretty amazing what they've done. On the other hand, I can't help but notice that public-domain sources from the Federal government (Census Bureau and Nationalatlas.gov) seem to be more up-to-date than Google, at least in these cases.

    By the way, a few weeks ago I spotted a truck on Big Bend Road that looked suspiciously like a Google Street View truck. It had a massive black sphere mounted in the back, probably a panoramic camera, and the driver was going rather slow with his flashers on.

    -- Posted by James Baughn on Mon, Jul 6, 2009, at 5:08 PM
  • Some of Cape is already on Google Streetview. I was just looking at the Emerson Bridge through it. In fact, in trying to move the little "walking man" around, I accidentally discovered that some of Kelso has been "streetviewed." (Is that a word? I'm making it one).

    I know that Highway 60 passing by Dexter is on "streetview."

    -- Posted by Eliza on Tue, Jul 7, 2009, at 10:00 PM