ATTN: due to SFPD activity near Balboa Bart station, the 8x, 9, 43, & 88 are currently being rereouted to Geneva via Ocean & Alemany.
— SFMTA (@sfmta_muni) May 5, 2012
A suspicious package that tied up traffic and transit near San Francisco’s Balboa Park BART station for hours today has been rendered safe and all streets have been reopened, police said around 6:30 p.m.
The bomb squad is assessing the suspicious item, which was reported around 2:50 p.m. at the corner of San Jose and Geneva, across the street from the Balboa Park BART station, according to Sgt. Michael Andraychak.
According to Appeal reader Allison, “I was on Muni just now, headed to Balboa Park, when they announced that they had just learned of a suitcase chained to something in the Balboa Park station.”
Geneva Avenue has been closed from Louisburg Street to Delano Avenue, and San Jose Avenue from Niagara Avenue to Ocean Avenue. In addition, the California Highway Patrol has closed the Geneva on and offramps to Interstate Highway 280.
BART patrons are being asked to enter and exit the station on the Ocean Avenue side.
Muni’s J and K lines are turning back at Ocean Avenue and are not using the Balboa Park station. The M line is turning back at Niagara Street.
According to Allison, “The Muni building had been evacuated, and the M trains were not allowed near the area.”
According to the SFMTA’s twitter feed, the “8x, 9, 43, & 88 are currently being rereouted to Geneva via Ocean & Alemany.”
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