Traffic decline forces Orange Beach to borrow millions to meet obligations to toll bridge owners | Breaking News from the Press-Register - al.com

Traffic decline forces Orange Beach to borrow millions to meet obligations to toll bridge owners | Breaking News from the Press-Register - al.com: "ORANGE BEACH, Ala. -- Traffic on the Beach Express toll bridge is on pace to fall for the third straight year, putting the city's taxpayers in a pinch and forcing them to borrow millions of dollars to meet their obligations in a revenue-sharing pact with the span's owners.

Nearly 250,000 cars would have to cross the Intracoastal Waterway this month to meet last year's traffic count of 2.5 million. But more importantly, it would take more than a million trips -- the equivalent of three busy summer months plus one December -- to generate the returns the city needs to match the $1.2 million it pays the owners each January."