The federal government had not earmarked any spending on the now doomed McKoy Street-Hume Freeway upgrade until 2031-32.
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The long wait for possible work on the west Wodonga project is revealed in a Department of Infrastructure spreadsheet made public due to a request by Nationals senator Matt Canavan.
The document dates from October 16, 2023, a month before federal Infrastructure Minister Catherine King dumped the project which would have seen a flyover built to bolster safety at the dangerous intersection.
The project had first been promised by then prime minister Scott Morrison during the 2019 election campaign and if the 2031-32 timing had been realised there would have been up to five federal polls occur in the meantime.
The Border Mail asked Ms King's office why her department had put such an extended date on its forecast McKoy Street spending.
That question went unanswered but a spokesperson said "this project has very significant cost pressures for the preferred option identified in the business case" before adding "the Australian government has made necessary decisions to no longer provide funding at this time to some projects including the McKoy Street-Hume Freeway upgrade".
Indi MP Helen Haines said the funding timeline reflected a failure from the outset.
"We had a prime minister who came in and made a big promise, this kind of exemplifies why it's problematic to make election promises on big infrastructure projects, they end up getting kicked down the road and places like us end up losing," Dr Haines said.
"That's incredibly disappointing, I think it's a poor use of resources, there's already been money spent in various phases and we end up with nothing."
Dr Haines herself has been criticised by Coalition senators Bridget McKenzie (Nationals) and Sarah Henderson (Liberal) over the axing of the McKoy Street fix.
They said it showed the independent MP was not having an influence over Ms King and the Labor federal government and not advocating adequately for the region.
Dr Haines responded by noting both of those senators were "members of the Morrison government and made the promise (and) never saw it through".
"There was $80 million that was delivered to the Border that was promised in infrastructure," Dr Haines said.
"I argued very strongly for that with minister King and that money has been delivered to the Border, so that's significant that that money's there."
