Washington County's first forays into the social media scene are wrapping up with a pilot project that the Department of Public Works tried last month.
Engineers opened and maintained two Twitter accounts (@county road13 and @countyroad8Hugo) to update the public on the progress and traffic changes for construction projects in Woodbury (Radio Drive and Valley Creek Road) and Hugo (County Road 8).
The county posted road signs near each project, with Twitter's familiar "t" logo and the name of the account. The signs helped the accounts gain followers, said Wayne Sandberg, public works deputy director.
Woodbury resident Kendrick Erickson (aka @wheres mysocks) said he followed the account after seeing the sign, but it took him awhile to realize that it was advertising the Twitter account.
Erickson said if the county had included the "@" symbol with the handle, it would have been more obvious.
When the Hugo project wraps up, the department will look at the results from the pilots, Sandberg said. Other residents pointed out confusion over the signs, as well as concerns about texting while driving.
"Always our goal is trying to find ways to communicate with as many people as possible," he said.
Sandberg said he considers the project a success: people who wouldn't otherwise have known which way traffic was moving, or about lane closures, could get quick updates and change their routes. The Woodbury account has 70 followers, the Hugo project has 20.
