ORLANDO, Fla. -- The Orlando/Orange County Expressway authority is cruising into cyberspace with Twitter accounts for major roadways in Central Florida.

The expressway authority is hoping to warn drivers about hazards on the highways with five Twitter accounts.

"As soon as we know that there would be any type of closures that would affect nearby neighborhoods – as soon as we know, our followers would know," expressway authority spokesman Paul Schatz said.

The authority has created a Twitter account for state Roads 408, 528, 417, 429 and 414.

For now, the tweets are only being used to issue construction alerts, but Schatz said if there is every a major crash, Twitter gives the authority the ability to tweet a warning to all drivers who have chosen to follow the affected roadway.

"If you're sitting there at work, and we know of something major that happened on the road, you'd know it before your commute home," Schatz said.

Schatz said the authority will also use the Twitter accounts during hurricane season to warn followers of evacuations and alert them to toll suspensions.

Lesley drives Central Florida's toll roads almost every day, and she said traffic alerts on Twitter make sense to her.

"Sometimes you know you're in a rush and the next thing you know, you're in a mile-long traffic build-up, so it would be great to know so you could take an alternate road or something like that," Lesley said.

The expressway authority said their use of twitter is so groundbreaking that the Turnpike Authority and the Department of Transportation have asked how to set up a similar system.

Twitter Account Links

• State Road 408
• State Road 417
• State Road 414
• State Road 528
• State Road 429