Manchester – A massive turnout of job-seekers for WMUR's job fair caused gridlock in two parts of Manchester this morning. No one else will be admitted to the event at the SNHU gym, which drew 10,000 people.

In recent days, the television station had heavily promoted its job fair at Southern New Hampshire University, including repeated advisories that no parking would be available at the campus in North Manchester. Buses were hired to shuttle people to the school from a parking lot by the Longhorn Steakhouse at the Mall of New Hampshire, an eight-mile drive.

WMUR estimated 10,000 people turned out in hopes of obtaining one of 1,500 full and part-time jobs offered by more than 150 employers, from government agencies to private industry ranging from BAE Systems to Burger King and Wal-Mart.

Mall spokesman David Donahue said just before noon that no more job-fair parking is available at the mall. However, the Manchester Transit Authority's Route 5 bus from Veterans Park or from River Road and Clark Street is temporarily running every 20 minutes.

Hundreds of well-dressed people and others in more casual attire waited in line this morning for buses from the mall to the fair. Many waited patiently, one describing the scene on Twitter as a great networking opportunity.

Not everyone was as optimistic. Ann Marie Peterson of Windham said she waited in traffic for about 45 minutes on an I-293 off-ramp before reaching the mall parking lot only to be told no more job seekers were being added to long lines of hundreds of people waiting to catch a shuttle.

Peterson, a corporate trainer and online professor, said she was disappointed, especially after the expense she incurred in photocopying paperwork and resumes, and the time invested in preparing for the job fair.

No one told her buses were available from downtown Manchester or that she could drive out to the college, park on a side street and walk over to the job fair.

Justin Svirsky checks the employers he's interested in meeting while in a two-hour line at the Mall of New Hampshire in Manchester to go to SNHU for the statewide job fair sponsored by WMUR on Thursday. (THOMAS ROY)

Evan P. Rosset, the MTA's assistant executive director who was at the mall, said the transit authority increased the number of shuttles from 12 to 15 by calling in school bus drivers.

"It was unbelievable," he said of the number of people who turned out.

Traffic was backed up from the mall onto Interstate 293 for more than a mile in both directions earlier this morning.

Some people parked along South Willow Street, the city's busiest shopping strip, and walked to the mall for bus rides. Others ignored the advisories and drove to the college, clogging local roads. Police were hard-pressed to control traffic, which was backed up at least a half-mile from SNHU. Many people parked in residential areas of the North End and walked to the school's athletic complex.

At the college, people lined up as early as 8 a.m. in the hope of obtaining a job and people were let in about a half-hour earlier than the official 9:30 a.m. start.

Annie Smith, 29, of Manchester, said she waited in line at the mall for two hours before boarding a bus shortly before noon. "The things you have to do for a job," she said.

People crowded into college gyms that became gridlocked until organizers began to limit the numbers allowed inside at one time.

According to press releases, shuttle buses from the mall were scheduled to run from 9:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. Handicapped parking was to be available at SNHU for those with appropriate handicapped stickers or permits only.

Donahue stressed that the mall is open and parking for shoppers is available. He compared the crush of cars to a Christmas shopping rush. WMUR had been allotted several hundred of the mall's 3,700 parking spaces. The job fair crowd quickly exceeded that quota.

The event, which is described as the "first-ever New Hampshire job and career fair" and "a day of networking, workshops and career connections, will run until 3 p.m. at SNHU's athletic complex,2500 North River Road, Manchester.

(UnionLeader.com reporter Pat Grossmith and New Hampshire Sunday News reporter Michael Cousineau contributed to this report. Look for additional coverage tomorrow on UnionLeader.com and in the New Hampshire Union Leader.)

Click below for video of the scene at the Mall of New Hampshire: