Google Maps adds super-accurate street details in 4 cities

Google Maps received a redesign in August last year that added more color to physical maps to make varied geography more discernable. At the time, the company had revealed that it was working on adding similar details to street maps as well, which would clearly show things like sidewalks, crosswalks, and pedestrian islands in cities. Last month, Google rolled out these changes to a few users, adding crosswalk indicators and building numbers in some cities. Now, the feature is finally rolling out to a wider audience in 4 major cities.

According to a recent report from Android Police, the detailed street maps are now available for a majority of Google Maps users in the following cities:

  • London, UK (Central London)
  • New York City, USA
  • San Francisco, USA
  • Tokyo, Japan (Central Tokyo)

As you can see in the attached screenshots, Google Maps now accurately shows details like road width, rounded corners, and roadside vegetation. It also clearly indicates crosswalks, medians, pedestrian islands, and more in the aforementioned locations. The additional details are expected to help both pedestrians and people with disabilities plan their route more effectively.

Google Maps street level details old
Old view with no crosswalks
Google Maps street level details new
Updated view with crosswalks

Furthermore, parks will show the actual width of pathways in dark green, along with stairs in gray. If you’ve received the update already, you should be able to see these details by zooming in to the street level in one of these cities.

street-level-detail-old
Old view with inaccurate park pathway
street-level-detail-new
Updated view with accurate park pathway

The detailed street view is rolling out as a server-side update, and it should reach most users in the coming days. Google may add more locations in the coming months, but the company hasn’t released any information regarding this at the moment. We’ll update this post as and when the detailed Google Maps street view is available in more locations.