You can try and edit this on Google MapMaker. I'll try changing the bike priority on Liberty to, "Avoid" and the bike facilities to, "closed to bikes."
2015-10-03 19:25:06
6
Excruciatingly bad google biking directions
Just figured I'd share this nugget and see what else might be out there.
If you're coming from the jail trail and trying to get to point of view park, google routes you up Grant RIGHT onto BOA and right across the liberty bridge to the right on McArdle.
Amusing thought though it is, I thought going across the liberty bridge in-lane was illegal? Or was that just the tunnel? For sure it'd be a highly unpleasant routing, probably even more so because of the preceding rise on BOA which is basically a highway ramp there, there's nowhere to go and it appears, no way to hop on the sidewalk when it starts, nor use the sidewalk on the bridge.
I have no actual concerns about my route, I was planning to hop over to the southside trail and take 9th to McArdle (steps to the aforementioned sidewalks is a non-starter since this is a bike train plan).
I guess just generally, I've found google maps biking directions to be mostly kinda decent, and this was an unusually bad exception. It might be good to have some of these enumerated to see what patterns emerge. The biggest I've noted generally is that it seems just about as likely to route to the same road uphill or down, and there are many places that's a bad idea.
2015-10-03 18:36:47
You ride on downstream sidewalk and stay on sidewalk up McArdle. I've done it many times with coworkers.
2015-10-06 10:32:33
Google Maps biking is not that great from what I found. They will end what they deem as cycle-able streets for no apparent reason even though they are perfectly fine for anybody use to road riding. Their routes they select then will take me on roads I deem to be rather to dangerous.
I been turning more and more into a roadie. I been using strava heat maps instead of Google maps. Strava heat labs has been working well for me in planing good safe routes. I went to Butler and back a couple weeks ago on perfectly great rural roads. Google maps suggested route 8 along the shoulder.
Although Google maps is good with routing around current closed roads. When going to Deer Lakes Park one day I was using my route planned from Strava and didn't know why Google was routing me a different direction. Then realized Saltsburg road was closed with bridge construction over the TP. I don't know where Google gets their data for planing bike routes, but I would think Strava has a better database on determining the best roads to ride from all the users who record on it.
2015-10-06 11:02:48
Strava heat maps are awesome. Too bad their route builder is the worst.
Ride with gps is the best route builder and cue sheet maker hands down.
2015-10-06 11:19:26
Google Biking Maps are horribly inaccurate. Just one example: The GAP is all trail. Many places on the Biking Map will denote sections of the trail as "Bicycle Friendly roads" when that is NOT the case at all. It's the trail, and it's not for motorized vehicles. It is not a road, friendly or otherwise.
This is an issue with other trails, too. How does this possibly happen?
2021-07-16 16:49:00