The federal government has announced that it will provide funding to replace Romiaka Channel and Jacks bridges through round two of its Bridges Renewal Program. The estimated cost of replacing the Romiaka Channel Bridge, which is on Yamba Road, is $3.460million – the federal government grant is $1.731 million. The new bridge will be a two-lane concrete structure with a footpath. The government is contributing $65,000 to replace the two-lane Jacks Bridge at Ramornie with a concrete pipe culvert. Clarence Valley Council applied for the funding following its August 2015 meeting – it also applied for funding to renew Spiders Bridge (Greberts Road) and Kinghorn Bridge (Wooli Road). Acting Prime Minister and Minister for Infrastructure and Regional Development Warren Truss and Federal Member for Page Kevin Hogan visited the site at Romiaka Channel Bridge to make the announcement. Mr Truss said the program bolsters the productivity and capacity of ageing bridges across Australia and gives councils the support they need to better serve communities. This round of funding provides $100million to fund improvements to 189 bridges around Australia; the first round stumped up $110million. “Local governments play a critical role in maintaining and developing the nation’s social and economic fabric and that’s why we are continuing to support funding to councils,” Mr Truss said. “We understand that local communities are the backbone of Australia, and local governments are key [organisations] to those communities’ ongoing growth and prosperity.” Mr Hogan said that the bridge upgrades would improve safety for motorists and pedestrians, alike. “In the case of the Romiaka Channel Bridge, the new wider structure will be built with a greater load capacity [and] it will also have a two metre wide footpath added,” he said. The council is responsible for 50 per cent of the funding for each bridge. It is currently seeking grant funding through other state and federal government programs to subsidise its half share. At the time of going to press, Clarence Valley Council had not been notified of the announced grant funding, and therefore would “make no further comment”.