Mcneil Drive opened...
 

Just curious on how long it takes for the gps software to be updated when new roads open up? Not complaining just wondering..

This depends greatly on which GPS application you are using, Google Maps and similar applications are probably months away, the Free villages app and the paid app are probably already updated or will be very shortly. The paid version has a section on this site, the free version is supported by the Daily Sun, so you could contact them directly for a specific answer.

Thanks...I was talking about the gps app here. Figured they monitored the gps forem here?

Its available on WAZE but not on Google or Apple maps

I just got back from a round trip golf cart ride from the Village of Richmond to Sawgrass Grove. Started at Clarendon Rec Center and crossed Water Lily Bridge, drove through Hogeye to Everglades Rec Center/Magnolia Plaza (this took ten minutes). From Magnolia Center drove to Sawgrass via Marsh Bend/Corbin Trail/McNeil Dr/ Bexley Trail, across Southern Oaks Bridge (this took thirteen minutes). So a total of 23 minutes to Sawgrass via the newly opened route. Drove back alongside Meggison Road paths to Richmond (this took 18 minutes). So the later is still quicker for me to get to Sawgrass, but I thoroughly enjoyed the scenic new route, so I may mix it up in the future when driving my cart to Sawgrass. Although you can’t get directly to Eastport by cart yet, I’m estimating it will be about a 25 minute cart ride for me from Richmond. I’m very excited for those who live in the Sawgrass area, who will now have cart access to Magnolia Plaza/ Everglades Rec Center / Edna’s / Fenney (and vice-versa). All this new development south of 44 is quite exciting to watch unfold. Retirement in The Villages is the best!

The paid GPS app has said they must wait for data release to Sumter County by developer. Sometimes it takes a while. As soon as it is public they will add it.

5 minute difference isn’t that bad. I like having multiple routes.

So looks like 23 minutes from Lake Denham to Magnolia doing this new route. Nice.

Hi, yes, You are correct. We do have to wait to get that data to become public before we can add it to our app.

We ask every other month and sometimes there is new data and sometimes nothing.

We aren’t connected with the Developer in any way we are just a couple of Villagers trying our best to keep up.

Trust me, we don’t like waiting.

As you all see how much, how far and how fast they have been expanding. It’s a lot to keep up with.

The day we get new data, we try to update it that day. Then everything we updated has to be approved. That can take up to a week before that happens.

Then you will see those new roads, multi-modal paths showing up.

We do these updates on the backend so no one has to do update's to see them in the app.

I hope that explains why we don’t have everything that is newly built.

If anyone has any questions, please email us at villagesgps@gmail.com

Have a great memorial weekend.

Villages GPS Team.

Thank you!

Thank you so much for the update!

If anyone has a good layout of a new road (eg Mcneill), you can submit an update to Google maps. I did the street I moved onto, and it took a couple of days for them to approve, and then it was on the system. A couple of months latter they updated it to be more exact. To do so, open the app, click on contribute, then update road (or address). From there, you can draw it in.

On the map, it looks like you can go straight from the southern oaks bridge to mcneill then to marsh bend, then down marsh bend to Everglades. Is this path not opened yet? Do you have to take Corbin trail to get to marsh bend? Thanks

You CAN get to Eastport. If you took the other path in the golf cart traffic circle at the base of the Southern Oaks Bridge you will get to Eastport in under 10 minutes (7-8 min).

Two things to note - there are far fewer traffic circles. Even a busy intersection like McNeil/Corbin had only a stop sign (a 4-way as recall).

If going over the Southern Oaks Bridge from Sawgrass, there are TWO routes to Magnolia Plaza. You can take Bexley Trail /McNeil Dr/Corbin Trail/Marsh Bend Trial /Magnolia Plaza. Or you can go straight on McNeil to the McNeil/Marsh Bend Trail traffic circle to Magnolia Plaza. It is a few minutes more but the view is very nice and no sharing the road with cars.

Villages free app not updated as of 5/25
 

The Villages free app for directions, by cart, hadn't been updated as of this morning.

McNeill is open to Marsh Bend.

Pretty quickly if you use Waze and send them updates. It is a process, but by making a number of drives on the road and identifying it, a Waze editor can update the maps that Waze and Google use.

We are new to The Villages and getting acclimated. We didn't know there were 2 GPS apps. What is the difference between the paid app from the free one we are currently using?

Idk but I live in citrus grove and I still have to back over Wildwood and type the villages every time.

Reading about all these new roads, villages and rec centers leaves me completely baffled. Living in village of Bonnybrook (near 466 and Buena Vista) for the last 20 years didn't prepare us for the explosion of homes that The Villages now has. We purchased the first lot south of 466 in Sept 2003 when the population of The Villages at that time was about 33,000. There was no Sumter Landing, just dirt and roads much like is found now in the Eastport area. Pretty easy to get lost in The Villages now . . . thank goodness for GPS.

You can either go up Corbin to the Marsh Bend MMP or take McNeill all the way to Marsh Bend and get the MMP there. Both are open now

The opening put a lot of extra stress at the Citrus Grove gate crossing. What were they thinking placing the gate 300 ft from the crossing?

A half dozen carts were backed up on both sides trying to get across Meggaison.

Not when I was there yesterday. Crossing was no problem.

The novelty will wear off....and I went through there yesterday afternoon, no wait at all.

I often see that many carts waiting to cross Hillsborough and Pinellas (right by the gates on Morse) on a regular basis...

That said, I agree that the cart crossing should be closer to the gates...

Noticed that too yesterday. Hopefully everyone will get used to a lot of carts coming from both sides!

It was more of a problem we noticed around happy hour. But I agree people will get used to it...

No wait when we went back through later also.

But earlier was a mess, the cars would drag race from the gate to the merge at the cart crossing.

Crossing from the south, we turned right and made u turn at Roudell.

Still not as ugly as ST Charles crossing at times there are 10 plus carts both ways trying to cross, and the cars are backed up on BV. Plus has the most amount of down gates in the area.

Citrus grove gate today had us and one cart. But totally agree that space from gate to crossing gives the lawn guys a running start at golf carts

I agree. Those crossing can be terrible. There is a lot of talk about the Meggison crossing, but it really is not bad. Especially when compared to other crossings.

I do wonder why they decided to place the cross away from the gates. Different from all the others. And I wonder if it will be moved in the future.

The Villages navigation map now has correct routing south via McNeill and Corbin Trail.

There's great bike riding on the trails in this area. Golf carts are mostly restricted to diamond lanes and very few walkers at this point in time.

(Ps - I may have needed to do a search after in the new area before the app updated?)

Beware there is a STOP SIGN at McNeil and Corbin. People seem so used to roundabouts they sail right through it - a lot

Adding it is a 4 way stop.

Going to get interesting when people start using McNeill as a short cut to the Turnpike.

18 minutes from the Bradford postal station to Willie Jewell’s BBQ.

The paid app is still not showing McNeil opened. Is my app out of date? I've been using the free app but since I paid for the paid app would like to use it...

The Paid app us updated regularly. But they have to wait until the city publishes the info before they can do an update.

TV has a slight advantage, since they know when roads will be open before the info is published...

Give it a few days. The paid app will be up to date in short order...

It's already the latest Villages death trap...I was about to step into the crosswalk there on Thursday from the rec trail and had to jump back quickly as an approaching car failed to notice the stop sign and just barreled through the intersection.

My advice is to not assume they are going to stop, even if quite aways away.

Hi, everyone.
We just wanted to let you know we added the Shallow Creek Championship Golf Course, the new Southern Oaks Bridge bridge, and Bexley Trail. 😊

We are still waiting for more data to become public so we can add more multi-modal paths, roads, and addresses.

Hopefully, we will get more data in the coming months. We add a lot of this in the background while your app is loading.


You can also check to see if there is a new update available by going to your App or Play Store and search for Villages GPS. If it says Update, go ahead and do that. If it says Open, you have the latest update already.

We are on version 23.45 for iPhones and version 6.9 for Androids.

How to check your App Version:

On the Main Menu, scroll down to the right and click “More Info.” You will see the "App Version” tab; click it.

For any inquiries, feel free to email us at VillagesGPS@gmail.com.

Thank you so much for your patience and support!

Villages GPS Team