Testing for coronavirus COVID-19 at Church of Highlands Grandview has been halted after thousands of people flocked to the church this morning and traffic came to a stop on U.S. 280.

Authorities later Tuesday said they will be moving the testing site to the church’s Grants Mill Road campus. Church officials have scheduled a 3 p.m. press conference to release more details.

The long line of cars kept workers and others from accessing the nearby Grandview Medical Center. Assurance Scientific Labs was conducting the testing at the church at 3660 Grandview Parkway.

Assistant Pastor Layne Schranz said the testing was stopped for today because the site hit capacity. "We will continue to improve the systems to maximize how many we can see per day,'' Schranz said.

Testing for COVID-19 was temporarily halted Tuesday after the site hit capacity and the thousands seeking testing snarled U.S. 280 traffic.

Schranz did not yet have the total of tests done Tuesday but workers said they were prepared to administer 500 tests. Asked what he meant by capacity, Schranz said “thousands too many.”

See also: Here’s where you can get tested for coronavirus in Alabama

Before the testing was stopped, motorists said they were inching along on I-459 and the 280 exit ramp for more than 30 minutes.

Birmingham police tweeted they are “working relentlessly” to control the traffic around COVID-19 testing sites.

This is a developing story and will be updated.

AL.com reporter Greg Garrison contributed to this report.