Vics staggered if Link money clawed back

Victorians will be "staggered" if Prime Minister Tony Abbott asks for money already handed over for the East West Link to be sent back.

Premier Daniel Andrews says he has not had a phone call, letter or conversation suggesting the federal government would ask for $1.9 billion already handed over for the axed tollway.

"I've accepted the prime minister doesn't want to fund public transport," Mr Andrews told reporters on Wednesday.

"I think Victorians would be staggered to learn he's not interested in funding roads either."

A report in the Herald Sun said the federal government planned to demand the East West Link money back, but Mr Andrews said he had heard nothing about the possibility.

"There is no letter, there's been no phone call, there's no quote, it's not attributed to anybody," he said.

"It's someone backgrounding someone else in a corridor in Canberra."

Toll road provider Transurban has a $5.5 billion proposal for a new road tunnel and freeway to ease congestion on the West Gate Bridge, which would call for almost $2 billion from the federal government.

Mr Andrews said he would be surprised if Mr Abbott wasn't interested in funding such a significant proposal using the money meant for the East West Link.

The opposition said the East West Link money was sitting in the government's budget on top of the surplus, meaning the state was actually $700 million in deficit.

But Mr Andrews said the money would go out over the forward estimates, which had surpluses of $1.4 billion, rising to $1.8 billion.

Mr Andrews said he hadn't spoken to the busy prime minister, but he expected they would talk about the Transurban Western Distributor project soon.