CONSTRUCTION has started on a 3-kilometer Cherry Blossom Boulevard along the Middle Ring Road in Xuhui District, the district government said yesterday.

The boulevard will have 300,000 square meters of cherry trees and is due to be completed by 2020. It is replacing illegal structures and rubbish piles.

More than 10,000 cherry trees and other plants will be planted.

The district government launched a facelift campaign early last year to remove illegal buildings. When the project is complete it will be the largest public green area in downtown area. Six-meter tall rockeries are being constructed and polluted soil removed.

About 300 cherry trees and more than 1,000 other trees and plants have been planted in a 343-meter trial section between Pingyang and Jiang’an roads.

The section includes a jogging path and several basketball courts.

Cherry blossoms are popular in Shanghai — about 230,000 people visited Gucun Park, which has more than 12,000 cherry trees, in Baoshan District during the annual Cherry Blossom Festival last year.