BEIJING, June 6 -- The city plans to rename hundreds of streets in suburban parts of Shanghai this year, a plan that involves the ID cards of thousands of residents, as well as changing 20,000 address boards and hundreds of traffic signs.

    The streets to be renamed all have the same names as downtown streets, which has led to confusion for many years. After conducting a one-year study of the problem, the city government has decided to rename 372 roads and eliminate 154 minor streets with duplicated names -- which will be merged with bigger streets or replaced by small parks.

    The plan calls for the government to update 36,000 ID cards and hundreds of street signs by September.

    The problem dates all the way back to 1958 when 10 rural counties in Jiangsu Province became part of Shanghai.

    "The duplicated street names have caused a great deal of inconvenience to locals and visitors," Liu Bo, an official in charge of place naming at the Shanghai Urban Planning Administrative Bureau, told a press conference yesterday.

    He said the government has received many complaints from visitors and locals about the problem.

    The government decided it would be easier to rename streets in suburban areas than to adjust the names of downtown roads, Liu said.

    For example: Xinzha Road on Chongming Island will be renamed Chongming Xinzha Road, while the similarly named street in downtown Shanghai will keep its original moniker.

    Fumin Road in Jing'an District will keep its name, while four other Fumin Roads in Fengxian District and Chongming County will be renamed.

    Bureau officials said the government will pay to update ID cards for residents living on affected streets.

    In addition to fixing names, the bureau is also planning to set up a bank of potential street names by the end of this year. It is currently accepting suggestions for new street names.