Traffic police are considering easing city congestion by limiting access to roads based on the number or type of a vehicle's plate.

The suggestion came as the city government announced yesterday that nearly two-thirds of downtown streets will be affected by construction work this year, causing the city severe traffic challenges.

Traffic police will take a series of measures to keep the traffic flow as smooth as possible.

"We will try our best to reduce the level of traffic inconvenience to the minimum," Chen Zhikang, head of the Shanghai General Team of Traffic Police, said at a municipal news conference.

He said the government will rearrange traffic lanes and routes around the major downtown construction sites.

One move is to make traffic lanes adjustable near the junction of Xizang Road N. and Haining Road because of the Bund Passage Project.

The government will also issue new traffic procedures to encourage drivers to solve minor accident conflicts by themselves instead of calling the police.

The procedures aim to allow vehicles involved in accidents to be cleared from traffic lanes as quickly as possible.

Chen said his team was even considering limiting the number of vehicles according to their plate numbers or types. There were also likely to be more temporary traffic bans around construction sites.

Wu Yi, deputy director of the Shanghai Urban Transport Management Bureau, said at the news conference: "One day, locals may find their bus stops relocated or bus routes altered. Please understand the situation."

He also said the government will issue public notices to let people know 10 days before such a change took place.

According to the Shanghai Engineering Administrative Bureau, Shanghai will conduct 94 infrastructure projects this year with a total investment of about 30 billion yuan (US$4.2 billion).

About 1,400 roads or sections of roads need to be dug out this year. Major projects include the construction of 187 new Metro stations, four tunnels under the Huangpu River, infrastructure projects in or around the World Expo site and 26 kilometers of flood wall fortification along Suzhou Creek.

Other projects include road expansion and the relocation underground of power cables.