Eleven years ago, Daniel Andrews scrapped the $6–8 billion East-West Link contracts, accepting a $1.1 billion break fee and enduring accusations of “economic vandalism.” Now, newly released Maribyrnong River flood maps show that large portions of the very corridor he cancelled fall squarely within the 1-in-100-year and 2100 climate-change flood zone. In other words, Melbourne Water’s neutral data has quietly vindicated the Premier.
🌊 What the Maps Reveal
- 21,000 homes in Yarra and 38,000 in Darebin are newly marked in flood-risk zones.
- The western portal of the cancelled Link, around Ascot Vale, Kensington, and the Moonee Ponds Creek mouth, faces >1 m flood depth under 2100 projections.
- Even under 2024 conditions, the flood outline already overlaps the trench and ramp footprints designers sketched in 2013.
🏗️ Engineering Reality Check
If the East-West Link had proceeded, planners today would need:
- Floodgates and pump stations at every cut-and-cover section.
- An additional 1 m freeboard on the Moonee Ponds Creek culvert.
- Compulsory acquisition of extra land for detention basins.
- Higher emergency-management obligations, including tunnel-closure protocols and evacuation routes.
🎤 Epilogue
- The East-West Link remains Liberal Party policy, with promises of resurrection if elected.
- Any future construction must now account for billions in added flood mitigation costs or shift the alignment uphill.
- Meanwhile, the West Gate Tunnel, despite cost overruns and PFAS issues, sits on higher, drier ground, giving the Premier who chose it the ultimate last laugh.
💸 In short, the true cost to flood proof the tunnel today would likely exceed the $1.1 billion cancellation fee paid in 2015.
