BRIDGE TO THE 21ST CENTURY

So this is kind of interesting:


View Larger Map

I am writing this post on the weekend that the new span of the Woodrow Wilson Bridge connecting Alexandria, Virginia with P.G. County in Maryland is scheduled to open. If you plan to be driving and if you are foolishly looking to the Washington Canard for traffic news, I can confidently report that NewsChannel 8 suggests that you stay away.

But you've probably already noticed what I find intriguing: in this aerial shot, the newest of the two spans is months away from completion, yet Google Maps shows all the traffic running across the unbuilt section. The other span you see is not the old one -- that was demolished two years ago; the bridge that Google Maps does not recognize is the first of the two spans, completed two years ago (it stands to reason).

I don't have a car in the District and I haven't been the navigator on any recent trips that crossed the bridge, so I can't say whether the conflict with reality is enough to cause trouble for the car-bound relying up on directions from Google Maps. If anyone has any insight, please share them in the comments.

P.S. It's possible and perhaps inevitable that the embedded image will change next the Google Maps satellite passes by. So I've also saved a larger version to my Flickr accoumt.

P.P.S. At the time of posting, the embeddable map is not working. I'm sure this is temporary, but if it's not, I guess I've got a topic for my next post.

Labels: Alexandria, Google Maps, P.G. County, Potomac

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posted by WWB at 2:44 PM |