Vic treasurer says East West is finished

The East West Link is not a "zombie" project and will never be resurrected, the Victorian government says.

This is despite an Australian Infrastructure Plan report saying on Wednesday that congestion will become untenable in the near future if an East West Link-style road is not put in soon.

The Victorian government axed the toll road project when it won the 2014 election, ultimately spending $1.1 billion not to build it.

A report released on Wednesday identified the east west corridor to the north of Melbourne's CBD as a major congestion challenge, saying the issue needs to be addressed in the next five years.

Vehicles travelling between the Eastern Freeway and City Link are "forced to navigate the congested inner city road network, or the heavily used M1 corridor to the south of the city".

If the state government does not deal with the issue within the next five years, road congestion cost in Melbourne will blow out to $144 million by 2031, up from $73 million in 2011, the report states.

But Treasurer Tim Pallas said it appeared Infrastructure Australia had not seen the business case for the East West Link, which he said revealed the project "would not reduce congestion heading into the city".

When asked if he would revive the East West link, even if by another name, Mr Pallas was adamant it was not a "zombie road project".

"It is finished, it is not going to happen. Any suggestion that project will happen under this government is simply the triumph of denial over reality," he told reporters on Wednesday.

Mr Pallas said public transport was the key to easing congestion, and not roads.

"Access to the city should be by way of public transport principally," he said.

Mr Pallas said Victoria was getting on with other high-priority projects identified in the report, such as the removal of level crossings, building Melbourne Metro and the CityLink and Tullamarine widening.

The finding comes only two months after Victorian auditor-general Peter Frost criticised the Andrews government for scrapping the East West Link toll road project, which will ultimately cost taxpayers $1.1 billion.

Before he was elected premier in 2014, Daniel Andrews vowed not to build the road and promised Victorians would not pay "one cent" in compensation for dumping the project.

Shadow Treasurer Michael O'Brien said the decision to scrap the East West Link was the worst Victorian political decision in a generation.

"$1.1 billion lost, with nothing to show for it, and still a need to build the East West Link," Mr O'Brien told reporters.

He said Labor had been happy to take Infrastructure Australia's word in opposition, but now in government they were ignoring it.