Yet, according to Google Maps, the gravel road Bentley built for his rural Claremore home in 1985 shared the name of the teenage pop sensation who only reached the legal driving age last March. That is, until Google removed it this morning.
“My wife says he’s a rock star or something. I don’t know him,” said Bentley, a retired construction worker who mispronounced Justin Bieber‘s name “Beaver.”
Bentley’s road is a dusty, straight shot from Old Highway 88 to his house, a dried pond, a trailer he rents out and a barn-shaped house for his brother. The sign installed last year as part of the county’s E911 addressing reform reads 454 Road.
But until the Claremore Progress contacted Google this week, Google Maps had it as Justin Bieber Lane — presumably as in the Canadian-born singer whose hit song “Baby” topped charts in 12 countries.
“I never heard of him,” said Norma Justus, who rents Bentley’s trailer. “I don’t know what they’re smoking, but they better change their smoking habits.”
Bentley said he discovered Google’s name for his road several months ago. But this month, some of Bieber’s fans found it, too — and reported it on the social networking website Twitter.
“Omg I am dying, there is an actual place called ‘Justin Bieber Lane’ hahahah,” wrote one user who included a screenshot of Google Map’s satellite view of Bentley’s road.
Another: “Justin Bieber lane! I wanna live there!”
Bentley shrugged when told someone wants to live on what is essentially his driveway. He had no words for that.
The name may have been a Google joke, although a company spokeswoman said in an email Thursday it was a mistake.
The company has built a reputation for inserting “Easter eggs” into its maps and websites. Google Maps directions from Japan to China, for example, include instructions to “jet ski across the Pacific Ocean.”
Bentley’s road, which was not marked on other Internet maps, is nearly three miles north of Claremore near the intersection of county roads 450 and 4130. Google removed Bentley’s road from its maps Thursday morning.
The Google spokeswoman said the maps are based on information from users and “authoritative partners” like the U.S. Census Bureau.
“As always, we encourage users to let us know when something is incorrect and needs to be updated by using the ‘Report a Problem’ tool found at the bottom right corner of the map,” the spokeswoman said. “Overall, this provides a very comprehensive and up-to-date map, but we recognize that there may be occasional inaccuracies.” -NewsOk.com
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