Chaos as Atlanta highway shut down amid bomb scare after a 'suspicious package' was found taped to an overpass bridge
'Please be advised traffic on 75/85 BOTH NB and SB at 14th St. is temporarily halted so APD can investigate a suspicious package,' the Atlanta Police Department tweeted.
The message continued, 'Please take an alternate route.'
As a result of the highway closing, thousands of cars were in left in heavy traffic before rush hour, ABC News reported.
The Wall Street Journal reported the package had been taped onto the 14th Street Bridge, describing it as 'a suspicious cylindrical object.'
According to the newspaper, 'Traffic was stopped around 2 p.m. and backed up for miles in both directions. It resumed by 4:35 p.m.'
The Wall Street Journal reported that the package was detonated by a bomb expert.
Police would go on to tell CBS46 that the package was not explosive.
Atlanta police announced that southbound lanes were the first to open again.
'DOWNTOWN ALERT,' the police department eventually tweeted. ' All lanes of I-75/85 have reopened. Thank you for your patience as we keep Atlanta safe.'
Twitter user @ErikaBerg wrote 'People are turning around, backing up, doing whatever they can to get off the highway #atltraffic.'
Another of the user's tweets said 'They're turning folks around and sending them off the highway. @Atlanta_Traffic.'A handful of Twitter users made jokes comparing the empty highway to AMC's 'The Walking Dead.'
The zombie apocalypse-themed television show is set in the Atlanta area. The poster for the first season shows one side of the city's highway completely empty, save for protagonist Rick Grimes on horseback.
Across the country, Grace Gatpandan, a spokeswoman for the San Francisco Police Department, told Bay City News that police examined a suspicious package in Inner Richmond on Monday.
Gatpandan told the wire service a box was discovered on a sidewalk close to an intersection and called in around 3:15pm.
Sgt. Monica McDonald told Bay City News it was revealed that the box was empty ahead of 5pm.