Long Beach police blocked off a stretch of Willow Street Thursday morning while they talked down a man who was threatening to jump from the roadway into a San Gabriel River channel, according to authorities.

The man positioned himself on a river overpass just east of Studebaker Road around 6:20 a.m., according to police.

“After over an hour of speaking with the subject, officers were able to convince him to step back over the railing,” Long Beach Police Department spokeswoman Nancy Pratt said.

After he came back from the edge, officers held him for a psychological evaluation, police said.

Officers shut down the stretch of Willow and the Willow Street off ramp of the south 605 Freeway while they talked with the man. It was reopened around 8:20 a.m.