A chaotic morning commute has left multiple drivers stranded on the side of the Calder Freeway, reigniting fierce community anger over the deteriorating state of Victoria’s major arterial roads.

At least seven vehicles were forced off the road with shredded tyres and damaged rims during the Tuesday morning rush hour after striking a deep pothole on the freeway between Gisborne and Sunbury. An additional three vehicles were spotted pulled over on the nearby off-ramp, all victims of the same road hazard.

Distressed Commuters Left Stranded

Macedon Ranges resident John witnessed the aftermath firsthand at around 6:30 am, describing scenes of frustration and distress on the roadside.

“There were people changing tyres on the side of the road; one young lady was in tears because she didn’t know what to do,” John said. “The same pothole was fixed just one week ago. Clearly, they’re not fixing them adequately.”

According to local commuters, lane closures due to severe road damage have plagued the freeway stretch between Kyneton and Sunbury for the past fortnight. John argued that authorities are failing to address the root cause of the infrastructure failures.

“They’re just filling gaps, they’re not actually going to the cause of the problem,” he said. “We just keep blaming the weather without proper remediation.”

A Widespread Regional Crisis

The Department of Transport has closed the right city-bound lane near Mundy Road while emergency patching works are carried out. However, departmental spokespeople have yet to confirm the exact number of motorists impacted by the hazard.

The road quality crisis is not isolated to the Calder Freeway. In Seymour, local mechanic Johnny Ravet reported that his workshop has been inundated with vehicles damaged by disintegrating regional roads.

“Just last week we had an Audi travelling to Nagambie that hit a pothole. Because it had no spare tyre, it had to be towed in,” Ravet said. “That rim alone cost $4,000 before we even put a tyre on it.” Ravet currently has six cars in his workshop all requiring repairs due to pothole impacts.

Electoral Backlash Brewing

The incident follows a massive road hazard on the Princes Freeway at Bunyip, east of Melbourne, where approximately 30 cars suffered tyre damage after hitting an obscured pothole during heavy rain.

With a Victorian state election on the horizon, the mounting damage to key transport corridors is fast becoming a major political flashpoint, as regional residents demand long-term structural solutions rather than temporary fixes.