Google Maps mix-up brings ferry visitors to wrong Pictou County road

Billy Pope, like most folks in rural Nova Scotia, is happy to take a minute to help wayward travellers and tourists with directions, but he's getting a little frustrated.

Pope, a resident of Caribou, Pictou County, lives on Spring Point Lane, a one-lane gravel road that happens to be "a stone's throw away" from where people go to board the ferry to Prince Edward Island.

The problem is, if you search "Caribou ferry" on Google Maps, it thinks Pope's road is where people go to board the ferry to P.E.I.

"Sometimes they get down in there with fairly big vehicles and it's not good," he told CBC's Maritime Noon on Wednesday.

Worried about accidents

The wrong turn usually also means people are turning around on, or backing onto Pope's lawn. He said it happens between five and 10 times a day.

"One of the parts that I really don't like about it, too, is I'm afraid I'm going to witness an accident," said Pope.

He said there's lots of traffic on the nearby crossroad, sometimes travelling too fast, and sometimes people who realize they're headed in the wrong direction just back out of the road toward the road that actually takes them where they need to go.

Pope'semailed officials at Google asking for the error to be fixed. He said he was informed the company is reviewing the matter.

In the meantime, Pope said neighbours along the road have taken to posting signs informing people that the ferry isn't actually on Spring Point Lane. Most people are generally fine about the mix-up, he said, although sometimes they are frustrated trying to find their way to the boat in time for the crossing.