Scott Morrison's stunning election win has cemented the East West Link in Victorian political debate for another three years.

Victoria now has a Prime Minister who wants to build the road but can't, and a Premier who can build it but won't.

The East West Link is a proposed tunnel from the end of the Eastern Freeway in Clifton Hill to CityLink in Parkville.

In 2015, the auditor-general found the design, construction, operation and associated costs of the road through a public-private partnership would have been nearly $12.8 billion.

In 2015, Premier Daniel Andrews ripped up the East West Link contract upon winning government — something he had promised he would do.

That move cost more than $1 billion of taxpayers' money — something he did not promise.

A week before polling day, Prime Minister Scott Morrison said a Coalition government would pay $4 billion towards building the tunnel project if it won.

Daniel Andrews ripped up the East West Link contract signed by the Napthine government. ( Supplied: Linking Melbourne Authority )

The remainder would come from private investment.

"I accept that the Victorian Government has not identified the East West Link as a priority for them," he said in his campaign launch speech.

"So just let us get on and do it. How about that?"

On Sunday, Mr Andrews reiterated that his Government would not be building it, continuing his opposition to the road that began in 2014 and has spanned two state elections.

"This thing doesn't stack up, it's never stacked up, the money they're offering is nowhere near enough to get it done,'' Mr Andrews told ABC Radio Melbourne.

The ball is ultimately in the Premier's court as it is up to the state to do all the approvals.

"All Daniel Andrews has to do is bank the cheque and build it and not block it," said Opposition Leader Michael O'Brien on Monday.

Whose mandate

Both sides argue they have an East West Link mandate.

Mr O'Brien's predecessor, Matthew Guy, revived the road at last year's state election, promising to update the plan to link with the West Gate Tunnel, which is under construction.

The Coalition was smashed at the poll, particularly in Melbourne, with Mr Andrews' strong infrastructure agenda endorsed by voters.

Former prime minister Tony Abbott dubbed the 2014 state poll a "referendum on the East West Link". Labor won the election.

Despite the Prime Minister's stunning election victory on Saturday, the Liberal Party lost ground in Victoria.

But Labor's hopes of winning a swag of seats were dashed and it only won two seats, Dunkley and Corangamite, both of which were notionally the ALP's after boundary changes anyway.

Daniel Andrews celebrated Chinese New Year in Chisholm with Bill Shorten and Scott Morrison. ( AAP: Ellen Smith )

The Liberals held their eastern suburbs seats, which would most benefit from the East West Link, but in some — like Deakin — it suffered swings.

It is ahead in Chisholm, leading by 591 votes at the close of counting on Monday.

Logistical questions remain

Another problem facing the Federal Government is the design of the road.

Would it simply dust off the plans scrapped by Mr Andrews in 2015?

Or would it look at an updated option, similar to what Mr Guy proposed last year?

Former Victorian Liberal leader Matthew Guy proposed a modified East West Link plan. ( ABC News )

Mr Guy planned to start the Clifton Hill entrance further east than the original design and proposed building a longer tunnel to link with the West Gate Tunnel.

This would require new traffic modelling and costing, which would take more time.

Why won't the Premier say yes?

The Government says most of the traffic stuck on the Eastern Freeway is headed for the city. ( Supplied: Linking Melbourne Authority )

The business case benefit cost ratio (BCR) in 2013 for the East West Link found that for every $1 invested only 45 cents would be returned.

Updated business cases showed a return of 80 cents and, when wider economic benefits were factored in, the BCR was $1.40.

Labor has always argued that the BCR showed that the billions of taxpayer funds needed for the project could be spent better.

These types of analyses are cold comfort to angry commuters stuck in traffic daily.

The Government has also argued that most of the traffic stuck on the Eastern Freeway at peak hour is city-bound and is not crossing Melbourne.

The East West Link would be an important link for business, which Labor said the North-East Link would deliver.

Mr Andrews also told the ABC on Sunday that with construction on Melbourne Metro, West Gate Tunnel and level crossing removals underway, there were not enough workers or resources for another project.

There are also concerns that building the East West Link would delay the construction of the North East Link, which the Andrews Government has made a priority.

"So, why would you add in a project that doesn't stack up and delay all the ones that do,'' Mr Andrews said.

Keeping his promise to not build the road is also important for the Premier and his backers.

How did we get here?

Traffic has long been a pain in the inner-north, where the Eastern Freeway ends in Clifton Hill and it can be a crawl through Collingwood, Fitzroy, Carlton and Parkville.

More than a decade ago, Sir Rod Eddington was commissioned by the Labor Brumby government to develop an infrastructure blueprint for Melbourne.

His 2008 vision included the Melbourne Metro (now under construction) and an 18 kilometre cross-city corridor including a tunnel linking the Eastern Freeway with CityLink.

Five years later premier, Denis Napthine's government put the East West Link tunnel section front and centre of his agenda.

As opposition leader, Mr Andrews promised to stop the project if he won the 2014 election, and on the eve of that election Mr Napthine signed the contract for the project.

The East West Link is a proposed tunnel from the end of the Eastern Freeway to CityLink in Parkville. ( ABC TV Graphcis )

The state Coalition campaigned last November on an East West Link revival, using $3 billion on offer from their federal colleagues.

But voters showed little interest, with the Liberal Party suffering losses in the east.

Sir Rod's original vision included a new road link between CityLink and the Western Ring Road — the Napthine government promised to build this section second.

But many have argued that this section should have been built first as the need was more pressing, and once built it strengthened the case for the East West Link.

An auditor-general's report into the East West Link from 2015 showed cost-benefit analyses were greater for this western section.

"Relevant departments have advised that the decision to pursue the eastern section first was a policy decision of [Napthine] government,'' the report said.

The Napthine government saw it as a political winner in Melbourne's eastern suburbs.

And it did wedge Labor against the Greens in vulnerable inner-city seats, which is one of the reasons Labor dumped the road.

Victoria will accept $2 billion for fast rail to Geelong. ( Supplied: Victorian Coalition )

Some former Napthine government insiders conceded that had the western section been built first the case for East West Link would have been an easier proposition.

Mr Andrews has since moved to boost road access to Melbourne's west, jumping on an unsolicited proposal from CityLink operator Transurban to build the West Gate Tunnel.

Can the PM and Premier work together for Victorians?

The East West Link is the pressure point between Spring St and Canberra but Mr Andrews and Mr Morrison, who are both in power for the next three years, are working together on an Airport Rail Link.

The state is spending $150 million on development for a fast-rail link to Geelong, something the Commonwealth acknowledged when it made the pledge.

That $2 billion is not due until after the next federal election.

Another barney is likely over an election pledge to spend $260 million to remove the level crossing on Glenferrie Rd.

The intersection, which includes tram tracks, is not on Mr Andrews' list of 75 removals.

Labor is removing the next intersection down the road with a controversial sky rail because of engineering advice, but the Liberals want the track lowered and the want the same treatment for Glenferrie Rd.

"I'm elected to fight for schools and hospitals and all of those things that people voted for me and my team last year,'' Mr Andrews said.

"We will never walk away from that. But, where we can work together [with Mr Morrison], absolutely.

"If it is good for Victoria, you know that I'll be in."