UPDATE: The upper level of the bridge was reopened around 11 p.m. after the package was cleared by NYPD

The discovery of a suspicious package led to gridlock on George Washington Bridge Thursday night, as both levels were shut down at times, the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey said.

“A suspicious package on the upper level of the bridge is currently under investigation. At this time the upper level, eastbound and westbound, is currently closed,” Lenis Rodrigues, a Port Authority spokeswoman said shortly after 10 p.m.

At about 10:20 p.m., the Port Authority tweeted that the lower level had been closed as well due to police activity. The lower lanes were then reopened a few minutes later.

The NYPD bomb squad was on scene investigating at about 10:30 p.m., Rodrigues said.

There were traffic delays of more than an hour on both sides of the bridge, according to 511NJ.org.

Several motorists reported on social media that police were on or around the bridge and that they were stuck in massive traffic backups.

Complete shutdown of the #GWB right now. #PortAuthority police have walked through the lanes of cars, telling us to prepare for a long wait. Story developing. Stay tuned to ⁦@northjersey⁩ for more details. pic.twitter.com/0OvveoImse — Christopher Maag (@Chris_Maag) August 23, 2019

@ABC7NY @NYPDnews @nytimes @NY1 @NYDailyNews can anyone give information on why access to the George Washington Bridge has been cut off by police for the past 15 minutes? The only announcement they have made is to “everyone stay in your vehicles” pic.twitter.com/TxP9weRh2M — Annie (@Annie_Wu_22) August 23, 2019

Chris Sheldon may be reached at csheldon@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @chrisrsheldon Find NJ.com on Facebook.

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