ORANGE BEACH, Ala. – The central theme for the city’s “State of the City” town hall meeting Tuesday night may well have been “quality of life,” but it just easily could have been “we need roads.”

Mayor Tony Kennon said relief from the Beach Express toll bridge would help in both regards. Part of recent negotiations may bear fruit in that effort.

“What we’ve been negotiating is trying to, and I think we’ve got the deal, is moving the toll booth north of (County Road) 20 so the bridge is no longer toll,” Kennon said. “That’s not in stone, but there’s a good possibility that will happen.”

Things are also moving forward with possibility of a bridge over Wolf Bay, Kennon said. The north footing of the bridge would be on property owned by Barber Marina.

“And the Barber bridge is on the drawing board,” Kennon said. “Mr. Barber has a lot of interest in developing that bridge. ALDOT, the Alabama Department of Transportation, John Cooper is the director, we have a great relationship with him and they’re OK with that. It would be a toll bridge to his property. It will not necessarily be anything beyond that to (County Road) 95.”

And while it might seem to replace one toll with another, Kennon says quality of life would improve greatly with these transportation improvements.

“We want to provide the utmost quality of life for our residents as we possibly can,” Mayor Tony Kennon said. “That’s what we’re supposed to do as mayor and council. Our job is to be your advocate, not a hindrance or a hurdle.”

Not only to residents, Kennon said, but to local businesses as well.

“We want to create an environment that is conducive to the business community’s success,” Kennon said. “We should be a facilitator.”

Among some of the things Kennon revealed were plans for a southern extension of the Beach Express through the state park that would deposit visitors directly on the beach. This would bypass three-lane Canal Road which can be a traffic headache during peak tourist times.

The state, Kennon said, would use the estimated $18 million the state had planned to spend to widen Canal Road to five lanes on the State Park road. The elevated road would be built along what is now a dirt Power Line Road.

“There is no projected start date,” Kennon said. “It is on the drawing board for the state. It is a project that is supposedly at the top of their list.”

With the five-laning of Canal Road now out of play, the city recently announced the launch of a special project to give the thoroughfare a more homey appearance.

“What we’re trying to create there, it would stay three lanes, it would be somewhat of a boulevard affect – sidewalks, pedestrians, nice landscaping, hopefully moving storefronts to the front and parking to the rear,” Kennon said. “Something that would be really attractive and part of a downtown type of look or vision. We’ve got some really good things happening in that respect.”

Other possible road improvements include extending the Beach Express north to connect with I-10 in the Loxley area. If more BP fine money becomes available, Kennon said, that could even mean an extension all the way to I-65 in northern Baldwin County.

All of these projects could help ease traffic in Orange Beach and aid in growth.

“The big picture is, hopefully now we’ve got traffic moving north and south,” Kennon said. “And for those of us that live here, it will make it much easier for us to move east and west. And makes our life a whole lot better without a toll.”

The entire presentation went over events and accomplishments for the city in 2011.

Kennon also gave an overview of city finances, which included the desire for a beach nourishment trust fund to keep up with the nearly $2 million a year the city spends to replenish sand on beaches.