By CAM LUCADOU-WELLS
TRAFFIC was crawling in daytime gridlock in Endeavour Hills, Hallam and Dandenong after aviation fuel spilled from the back of a truck on the Monash Freeway yesterday morning.
The spill under the Heatherton Road overpass shortly after 10am caused a domino effect of road closures and slowdowns at South Gippsland Freeway inbound, Heatherton Road, Belgrave-Hallam Road and the M1 for much of the day.
Drivers reported delays of over 30 minutes as they battled congested alternative routes.
A CFA spokeswoman said the highly-flammable fuel had spilled from the truck, which was carrying several other “dangerous chemicals” that had been driven along Monash Freeway and parked under the overpass.
“It appears another driver has alerted the truck driver and he has pulled over.”
Up to 12 firetrucks from the CFA and MFB attended the clean-up. The CFA issued an advice warning for people in the “immediate area” to turn off air-conditioning and monitor the situation during the operation.
All lanes on the freeway were re-opened shortly after 3pm.
A ‘perfect storm’ of incidents intensified the traffic congestion in Dandenong, including a road closure at Dandenong Bypass due to a fatal two-car crash early this morning, a large fire at Sandown Racecourse at 11.30am and a car crash rescue at the Monash Freeway-Eastlink intersection at 11.49am.
A VicRoads spokesman, at the time of the re-opening, said it was hard to predict if afternoon peak-time travel would be affected.
“It should clear up because people have been avoiding the area during the day.”
Ventura Bus company was reporting delays of about 15 minutes on some services in the Berwick area.
