The company that was paid hundreds of millions of dollars not to build the East West Link is in the final race to build the Andrews government's flagship Western Distributor road project.
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Roads Minister Luke Donnellan has announced that major projects behemoth Lend Lease is among three constortia short-listed to deliver the $5.5 billion road, which will connect the West Gate Freeway to CityLink, the city and the Port.
Lend Lease was famously part of the consortium that signed a contract just weeks before the November 2014 state election to build the first stage of the Napthine government's ill-fated East West Link.
The Andrews government junked the project immediately after the winning the election, handing over $339 million in compensation to the winning bidders despite earlier claiming the contract was not worth the paper it was written on.
The new project - which is seen as an alternative to the East West Link - is being delivered by tolling company Transurban. In return for meeting part of the construction cost, Transurban will get to keep the tolls from the road, and will benefit from an extension to the existing CityLink tolling period.
Mr Donnellan said he did not believe the cancellation of the East West Link had discouraged companies from bidding to build the project.
Asked if Lend Lease had expressed concern about the risks of projects being cancelled, Mr Donnellan said: "No they haven't voiced concern; they have voiced a keen interest to proceed with a $5.5 billion major infrastructure project. You wouldn't have them bidding unless the group was keen to proceed with that work."
If it is selected, Lend Lease would be contracted to build the road as part of a consortium with Bouygues Construction. The other short-listed bidders still in the running for the lucrative contract are John Holland and CPB, and international bidders Salini Impreglio, Fluor, and Land Worldwide Infrastructure.
Mr Donnellan said as a next step the construction firms would prepare fully-costed designs for the project, which includes the widening of the West Gate Freeway, a tunnel under Yarraville, a second river crossing and connections to the port, CityLink and the city.
The contract for the project is due to be signed in late 2017, with construction to be completed in 2022.
