Dr Napthine has vowed to see construction start on the east-west link road, joining the Eastern Freeway to CityLink, before next year’s election. The Coalition came to office promising a variety of public transport projects, including a new rail line to Doncaster, and ridiculed pre-election suggestions it planned building the six-kilometre freeway. The $6-$8 billion road – the most expensive transport project in Victoria’s history – would tunnel from Clifton Hill under North Carlton to Flemington, cutting the trip from the Eastern Freeway to CityLink to just seven minutes. Opponents including state Labor have attacked the plan, made largely in secret and with haste after Dr Napthine’s elevation to Premier in March. In April, as the government prepared Dr Napthine’s May budget announcement of the road, VicRoads’ manager of network modelling and analysis, Douglas Harley, emailed the road authority’s strategy and planning head, David Shelton. Mr Harley warned traffic figures being used to justify the road could not be trusted. The figures were compiled by consultant Veitch Lister for the Linking Melbourne Authority, rather than using a traffic program created by the government.

‘‘We must not trust the information provided to us by the Linking Melbourne Authority,’’ Mr Harley wrote. He warned the traffic modelling used was not transparent, even to senior transport bureaucrats: ‘‘From the little that we can find out about it, it appears to be using an inflated value of time to artificially inflate the benefits that can be expected from the project.’’ Mr Harley, who refused to comment when contacted about the leaked emails, was VicRoads’ traffic modelling manager for three years but last month took a redundancy package. He had worked at VicRoads for almost three decades, including as an engineer on the Eastern Freeway extension. He warned VicRoads could be held responsible if the road ended up being little used, comparing the plan with Sydney’s Cross City Tunnel and Brisbane’s Clem Jones Tunnel in one email. ‘‘These projects are similar to the proposed East West Link.’’ We must not trust the information provided to us by the Linking Melbourne Authority.

VicRoads’ Mr Shelton on Sunday hosed down the significance of the emails, saying they did not represent the authority’s position. ‘‘As with any large organisation, individuals often express differing views,’’ he said. ‘‘VicRoads endorses the traffic modelling for east-west link, which has undergone extensive and rigorous assessment.’’ The Linking Melbourne Authority referred queries to VicRoads. Opposition roads spokesman Luke Donnellan said the government’s traffic figures were ‘‘dodgy’’. And he said the projections that had been put forward predicting the level of traffic the new road would carry were ‘‘just delusional’’. He said the East West Link was ‘‘an $8 billion road that no-one wants, no-one is going to use and for a premier that no-one voted for’’.

‘‘All recent VicRoads figures highlight that traffic volumes for the last 10 years have been going backwards on Alexandra Parade,’ Mr Donnellan said. ‘‘So how the Premier can deduce that VicRoads backs up his claim is just beyond comprehension – it’s simply dishonest.’’ Dr Napthine, keen to promote the project – and to counter the Opposition’s attack on a plan he has staked his premiership on – held a press conference on Alexandra Parade in Collingwood during Monday’s morning rush hour. He said that arguments that the traffic figures for the project were wrong did not ultimately hold water. The projection of 80,000 to 100,000 cars a day using the ‘‘East West Link stage one’’ were, he said, ‘‘sound, solid and if anything conservative’’. ‘‘When you have got an organisation as large as VicRoads, you always get individuals that have different views,’’ Dr Napthine said. ‘‘But ... we have had traffic experts analyse the traffic and show that 80,000 to 100,000 vehicles a day will use [it],’’ he said. Loading

Dr Napthine also said that ‘‘the business case confirms’’ these figures – despite the government keeping this business case confidential. ‘‘One only has to stand here on Alexandra Parade and be drowned by the traffic noise, and look at the frustration in the eyes of the drivers, and know that the East West Link will be good for Melbourne and Victoria,’’ he said. Read the leaked email here