Special report: 2008 Olympic Games

    BEIJING, July 4 (Xinhua) -- Beijing is to set aside special lanes for vehicles serving the upcoming Olympic Games, according to local traffic authorities here on Friday.

    Workers will start demarcating the lanes on Saturday on several major roads, including Chang'an Avenue which passes by Tian'anmen Square in downtown Beijing, and the second, fourth and fifth ring roads, a Beijing Traffic Management Bureau spokesman said.

    The Olympic lanes, with a length of 285.7 km, would be used from July 20 to Sept. 20, the spokesman said.

    Beijing, which hosts the Olympics from Aug. 8-24 and the Paralympics from Sept. 6-17, reports 3.29 million vehicles on the roads now, statistics with the Beijing Municipal Committee of Communications show.

    The city was imposing an even-odd system based on license platenumbers to keep vehicles off the roads on alternate days from July 20 to Sept. 20. This was to ease congestion and improve air quality for the Olympics and Paralympics, the committee said earlier.

    Exceptions to the restrictions would include police and other emergency vehicles, taxis, buses and embassy cars, it said.