VicRoads has issued a statement, saying drivers need to plan ahead for their journey and assume the freeway will be closed tonight and allow for extra time. 

Traffic is being detoured onto the Ballan-Daylesford Road exit, and then along Old Melbourne Road through Gordon to get back to the freeway via Moorabool West Road. 

Motorists need to drive to the conditions along this detour and travel within the 60km/h speed limit through Gordon. 

The road will reopen when investigations are complete and it’s safe to do so. 

EARLIER: A FEMALE passenger has been killed and another woman airlifted to hospital after a car rolled on the Western Freeway near Gordon on Thursday morning.

The two occupants of the car, believed to be holiday makers heading to the western district for the long weekend, were headed towards Ballarat when the car has crashed into a side barrier.

The car is then believed to have flipped “four of five” times before coming to rest on a barrier across the other side of the west bound lanes.

The crash occurred on a straight patch of road which recently had safety barriers installed. It happened less than two kilometres from where a motorcyclist was killed just last week, also on a straight stretch of road.

Watch the police interview at the scene here.

Senior Sergeant Ben Young said it was the fifth fatality in the region in five weeks.

“The driver has over corrected and as a result of that, the vehicle has rolled several times and come to rest on the other side of the road,” Senior Sergeant Young said.

“The female passenger has died at the scene and the driver has been airlifted to Melbourne.”

The woman airlifted to Melbourne suffered lower leg injuries.

Senior Sergeant Young said incident like this were shattering for everyone involved.

“It’s an extremely tragic start to the year both state wide and but particularly locally, we’ve now had five deaths in five weeks,” he said

“We are doing absolutely everything we can, especially leading into Operation Amity which starts (today) and is a road policing tasked operation to try and stops these sorts of things happening.

“We see the impact these types of traumas have on the people involved, the community, the family of those involved and the emergency services and we’re trying everything we can to stop this happening.”

Senior Sergeant Young said witnesses to the crash, particularly those travelling east on the freeway were being asked to come forward.

“We have spoken to witnesses of what they’ve seen and observed, but we’re also told there has been numerous vehicles continue through the scene after the accident,” he said.

We know there was a heavy vehicle heading east along the highway who stopped to assist and has since driven off, if anyone knows of anyone who was here and may have driven away, we do encourage them to contact us and assist in our investigation.

Information to Crime Stoppers 1800 333 000.

EARLIER: Victoria Police have confirmed a woman has died after a car rollover on the Western Freeway.

Police have released the following statement:

“Police are on the scene of a single-vehicle fatal crash which occurred in Gordon this morning.

It appears the female driver was travelling in the right lane westbound on the Western Freeway when she struck a barrier causing the vehicle to roll onto its roof just before 11.30am.

The passenger died at the scene.

The female driver sustained lower leg injuries and was airlifted to hospital.

West bound traffic along the Western Freeway is being diverted at the Daylesford Ballan road along the Old Melbourne Road.”

The statewide road toll sits at 16, compared to 13 at the same time last year.

EARLIER: Emergency crews are attending another serious crash on the Western Freeway.

Both lanes of the Ballarat-bound lanes of the freeway are blocked near Gordon following what is believed to be a single-car crash

The crash occurred just before 11.30am.

A four-wheel drive has come to rest on its roof in the middle of the freeway.

The crash is on a section of the road where wire-rope barriers are in place.

An air ambulance has also arrived at the scene.

Camping gear and alcohol cans can be be seen strewn across the road, with early reports the car was on the way to the Rainbow Serpent Festival in Lexton.

Traffic diversions are expected to be created, although traffic was at a standstill as of 11.50am.

The incident follows a deadly week on Ballarat roads last week, with two people killed in separate incidents.

On Thursday there was a fatal crash near Avoca, while a motorcyclist was killed after crashing on the Western Freeway at Ballan on Friday.

A woman in her 20s has leg injuries and is in a serious condition, while there are no confirmed details of the other person’s condition.

Victoria Police has been contacted for further information.