WESTFIELD, N.J. – The bucolic cemetery where late pop music icon Whitney Houstonwas laid to rest in a private ceremony over the weekend has been closed to the public indefinitely following a surge in vehicular traffic Monday afternoon, police said.

The cemetery was opened to grieving fans Monday morning, but a line of cars gathering there at about 2 p.m. prompted officials at the Fairview Cemetery to make the switch, according to Westfield Police Capt. Cliff Auchter.

“It’s a private property, and it’s up to them to make that decision … it was done in light of the overcrowding that occurred,” Auchter explained. “The cemetery is a maze of very small roads, so if two cars come face to face, you have a Mexican standoff.”

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On Saturday, the 48-year-old singer was mourned at an star-studded, invitation-only funeral at the church in Newark, N.J., where she sang in the choir as a child. Houston died Feb. 11 at the Beverly Hilton Hotel in California, hours before she was to attend a pre-Grammy Awards party. No cause of death has been determined.

Those with relatives buried in Fairview Cemetery will be exempted from the closure, Auchter added. A phone call placed to Fairview Tuesday morning was not immediately returned.

Police presence at the cemetery will remain in place around the clock for the foreseeable future, with a contingent of off-duty officers hired by the cemetery also joined by an on-duty patrol, according to Auchter.

“I don’t have any idea as to when that will change,” he said. “It’s being evaluated day to day (by the cemetery).”

But so far, Auchter added, there haven’t been any major law enforcement issues at the site.

“It’s been relatively quiet,” he said.