Mourners stood in long lines Wednesday for a chance to view the closed casket of former first lady Nancy Reagan and pay their respects three days of formal mourning

Her casket was taken in a police-escorted motorcade up an empty freeway for a public viewing at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library. The procession from Santa Monica passed beneath a large American flag on a stretch of normally congested highway and then turned onto the Ronald Reagan Freeway where firefighters in dress blues saluted from atop fire trucks parked on overpasses and other observers held their hands over their hearts.

A rotating honor guard stood watch in a flag-adorned stone atrium as family members, invited guests and then the public had a chance to walk around the casket perched on a pedestal draped in black velvet.

"She was very dear in our lives for a long, long time," former U.S. Rep. Elton Gallegly told the Daily News as he and his wife entered the library.

"Nancy Reagan's greatest role was protecting Ronald Reagan. She was always there for him, with him, by his side," he said. "It's the greatest love story ever told. Nobody debates that."

Officials at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley, California, said 1,016 members of the public passed by Nancy Reagan's casket between 1 p.m. and 3 p.m. Wednesday.

Daughter Patti Davis, dressed in black, was among about two dozen relatives and close friends who attended a short prayer service before leaving in a motorcade Wednesday.

The visitors left with cards with Nancy Reagan's monogram in her signature red. They said "With Gratitude for Your Expression of Sympathy in Honoring the Life of Nancy Davis Reagan."

Many left behind messages of their own on sheets of paper on long tables in a courtyard near the entrance.