Preston Western Distributor: Google Maps showing new road as still closed

Google doesn’t recognise the new road as being open Pic: Google Maps

The newest road in Preston may be welcoming drivers to it – but Google has other ideas.

Google Maps seems to think the Preston Western Distributor, known as Edith Rigby Way, will not be opening until early August.

Red ‘do not enter’ lines mark both ends of the new road which stretches from Preston Docks A583 up to the M55 and the new junction.

However, Lancashire County Council officially opened the new road at 11am on Monday (3 July) and it is clear to drive down.

Roads Minister Richard Holden, said: “Hundreds of thousands of Lancashire residents rely on our local road network to get around for work, education, hospital appointments and to see loved ones, whether that’s by car, bus, or cycling and walking.

“That’s why it’s fantastic to see the new Edith Rigby Way finally open thanks to this Government’s £31 million investment, which will help reduce congestion, cut journey times and create new local jobs, as we continue to improve transport connections to grow the economy.”

Cars heading down Edith Rigby Way after the opening Pic: Lancashire County Council

The Google Maps site states in response to how often maps data is updated: “The map is updated constantly–literally, every second of every day! We’re constantly collecting new information about the world, whether from satellite imagery and Street View cars, or Google Maps users and local business owners, and using that information to update the map. Google Maps users contribute more than 20 million pieces of information every day–that’s more than 200 contributions every second. In addition to the updates we make from what people tell us, we’re making countless updates uncovered through other means like the imagery and machine learning efforts we’ve shared with you in the recent Beyond the Map blog posts posts.”

If anyone wants to tell Google, here’s how you tell it to add a missing road.