Mr Franklin told the Express Telegraph it was time for "factual information" to be revealed to the public.

Debate over the avenue is a result of the Western Highway Realignment Project, which will extend Woolpack Road and install a roundabout along the road.

The construction will result in the removal of up to a dozen Dutch elm trees, which will be replaced with saplings.

The National Trust of Victoria believes the works will threaten the avenue.

In a letter to the editor, Mr Franklin said he agreed with Anzac House chief executive Michael Annett that the road project would make the highway safer and remove heavy truck traffic from the shopping and residential areas of Bacchus Marsh.

Mr Annett said the existing, original trees would all need to be renewed in the near future, regardless of road projects.

"The position of the RSL is shaped by both the reality that time does not stand still and our emotional attachment to the symbolism and significance of the avenue. No memorial avenue of living trees can be frozen in time if it is to continue to serve its original purpose of stimulating remembrance and reflection for another century."

He said if there was a viable alternative to the planned roundabout so that it did not occur at the junction of the existing avenue and Woolpack Road, it would have the RSL's support. "But noone so far has been able to suggest one."

The trust believes all alternative routes should be exhausted before any trees are removed. It says finding an alternative route is a priority, even if it comes at an extra cost.

Last month, the executive director of Heritage Victoria recommended the avenue be added to the Victorian Heritage Register.