Construction on eight stations across downtown Shanghai along the planned Metro Line 14 will start over the next few months from this Friday, weighing down on congestion, police said yesterday.

Police announced new traffic arrangements around the stations and said they will keep working to relieve traffic pressure on the city center in the next four years during the construction.

The eight stations in Putuo, Jing’an and Huangpu districts and the Pudong New Area are located near popular tourist sites such as the Jing’an Temple, Huaihai Road, People’s Square, Yuyuan Garden and Lujiazui.

Construction of the Wuning Road and Jing’an Temple stations will start this Friday, and will begin on the adjacent Dongxin Road and Wuding Road stations next Friday.

In the next eight months, the six-lane Wuning Road N. will be reduced to five lanes.

To reduce traffic flows into the busy street, Yuyao Road will be turned into a one-way road from east to west.

In the meantime, Wuding Road W. will become a one-way road from east to west, and cars on Wuning Road N. from south to north will not be allowed to take a left turn into Wuding Road W.

Near the Jing’an Temple, in the next 10 months, the seven-lane Huashan Road between Nanjing Road W. and Yan’an Road M. will be reduced to six lanes, and cars from the east will be banned from taking left turns at the crossroads of Nanjing Road W. and Yuyuan Road at Huashan Road.

Construction of the Yuyuan Garden Station is scheduled to start on December 2, and the Huangpi Road S. and Dashijie stations on December 16.

In the Pudong New Area, Construction of Lujiazui Station will probably start early next year, said Ying Boxuan, Vice Chief Engineer of Metro Line 14 at Shanghai Metro.

Police said the traffic arrangements will be subject to changes when the second phases of construction are brought on. Some bus services will also be rerouted or cancelled.