Some drivers decided not to wait and turned around at the Bay Bridge toll plaza, which you're not allowed to do.
The suspicious device was reported around 1 p.m. about an hour later, the authorities decided to shut down both the upper and lower decks of the Bay Bridge. It was removed by the San Francisco Police Department's bomb squad.
Using a public address system at the Bay Bridge toll plaza, drivers were told to stay in their cars. Then they were escorted slowly by CHP officers. Drivers in both directions experienced significant traffic delays for hours after this incident.
This couldn't have happened at a worse time. Before this incident, Friday night traffic was expected to be terrible with a number of large events going on around the Bay Area. There are Giants and A's home games, concerts at Candlestick Park, Shoreline Amphitheatre and the Greek Theatre, critical mass in San Francisco and its Friday so a lot people like to hit the roads early for weekend getaways.
