‘Human error’: Bungled road work fix to blame for Princes Freeway traffic chaos, multiple collisions

A top Department of Transport official has blamed a bungled road works job at an expansion joint for Wednesday’s traffic meltdown on the Princes Freeway.

A bungled road work fix of an expansion joint has caused multiple accidents and a traffic meltdown on the Princes Freeway.

Department of Transport and Planning executive director of maintenance Michael Bailey said “human error” sparked the closure of all Melbourne-bound lanes of the freeway for more than four hours on Wednesday morning.

The gridlock came after five vehicles, including one truck, collided in Werribee at about 4.20am.

Police confirmed no one was injured in the crash.

All Melbourne-bound lanes of the Princes Hwy were closed on Wednesday morning. Picture: 7News

Commuters faced delays of up to four hours due to the closure. Picture: 7News

The chaos left commuters sitting in delays of up to four hours on their way toward Melbourne.

Mr Bailey said an expansion joint at Duncans Rd bridge — which allows the bridge to move and expand in changing temperatures — had undergone routine maintenance on Tuesday night into the early hours of Wednesday.

Road work crews had cut the expansion joint in order to reinstall it, leaving a gaping trench in the road.

As works were not completed on Wednesday morning, a temporary steel panel was cut and placed over the hole sometime before 3am to allow cars to drive over the exposed area.

But that plate — weighing about 200kg — was not properly secured to the road and quickly became dislodged about an hour after crews left the site.

That left motorists to hit the steel plate and the exposed trench in the early morning darkness.

The metal plate which covered an exposed expansion joint dislodged shortly after crews left the site. Picture: Supplied

Five cars were involved in a collision due to the bungled road works. Picture: 7NEWS

Mr Bailey was unable to confirm if the steel plate had been secured down with cold mix as per standard practice.

“That steel plate has come loose and come off the road, vehicles have subsequently hit that, so that has caused significant delay to all road users,” Mr Bailey said.

“We’re not sure what’s caused it to come loose … We need to investigate fully and make sure we know what’s happening.”

He apologised to drivers who were impacted, admitting it was “very lucky” no one died.

“I’d like to apologise to all road users on the Princes Freeway this morning, particularly those who were directly impacted through vehicle damage, or obviously the truck rollover overnight,” he said.

“We are very fortunate that there has been no fatal or serious injury associated with this.”

Crews dropped absorbent material to mop up a diesel spill from a truck that rolled over after hitting the bridge works. Picture: 7NEWS

One inbound lane is now open on the Princes Freeway through Werribee, following a truck rollover. Two lanes remain closed approaching Duncans Road. Delays up to 2 hours on the freeway and on surrounding roads through Werribee and Wyndham Vale. Allow extra time. #victraffic

— VicTraffic (@VicTraffic) June 10, 2025

The Department of Transport will consider wavering the threshold for compensation for drivers impacted by this incident.

Usually, the DTP does not compensate for damage to cars or vehicles caused by the condition of the road less or equal to the threshold of $1640.

But still, Mr Bailey could not guarantee all damages from the dodgy repair works would be fully covered by the Department of Transport.

“We will work directly with those impacted by this incident, and we’ll go to the process soon as we know who they are and what those impacts were,” he said.

The Department of Transport is yet to confirm which of the contractors or DTP workers on site were responsible for the bungle.

But the same crews who potentially made the error overnight will be back on the job on Wednesday evening to finalise the joint repair.

“We need to work through the investigative process to understand exactly what’s happened,” he said.

Mr Bailey refuted claims that the incident was due to cuts to road maintenance across Victoria, saying the bungle came down to “human error”.

The Princes Fwy was reopened on Wednesday afternoon under a reduced speed.

Crews will return to finish the road works at 8pm on Wednesday.

All lanes are due to reopen at normal speeds as of 5am on Thursday.

Originally published as ‘Human error’: Bungled road work fix to blame for Princes Freeway traffic chaos, multiple collisions