But the major traffic delays experienced by motorists during the morning peak on Sydney’s M5 motorway while a tunnel ventilator fan was repaired could fairly be described as a commuting catastrophe. The toll road operator, Transurban, had closed the two-lane tunnel to conduct routine maintenance in the early hours of Wednesday when workers discovered safety problems with a fan inside the tunnel. A decision was made on safety grounds about 4.16am to replace the fan and keep the eastbound lanes shut after 5am, despite the looming morning peak. Traffic came to a standstill on the M5 on Wednesday morning. Only a year ago, a crane rolled in the eastbound tunnel, and it was shut for nearly 24 hours.