Many Shanghai neighborhoods will become construction battle zones over the next five years as the city builds 260 new Metro stations, a senior official said yesterday.

Small streets will be blocked, lanes will be restricted on major roads and noise and dust will fly in the affected areas — although officials promised to keep the negative effects to a minimum.

The city's basic message to residents: Please bear with us; the inconveniences of the near term will lead to smoother transport for commuters in the medium term.

The scope and speed of Shanghai's mass transit plans are highly ambitious.

The length of the Metro system will nearly quadruple by 2010. It took London and New York more than 100 years to build networks of the same length. Shanghai plans to do it in less than 20.

"The overall traffic situation over the next five years will be worse than in the past five years," Bian Baiping, director of the Shanghai Urban Transport Bureau, told Shanghai Daily during the ongoing session of the Shanghai People's Congress.

More than 100 new subway stations are already under construction, and the rest will break ground during the period, which means building will take place on many of the facilities at the same time.

Most of the new Metro stations will be built within the Outer Ring Road. By the time the project is finished, Shanghai's present five Metro lines will be expanded to more than 11, and the total length of the system will grow from 123 kilometers to 400.

Bian said the government is well aware of the huge challenge brought by the rapid urban construction campaign. He said the subway project will inevitably cause traffic congestion and inconvenience to citizens.

"But only after the Metro network is fully established can the city's traffic congestion be effectively reduced," he said.

To minimize disruptions, the city said it will increase control over construction sites to minimize the area affected and reduce dirt and nighttime noise.

Many of the 100-plus sites that are now under construction are close to existing residential complexes — and drawing complaints.

"Many trees have been transplanted in front of our complex, and I'm worried about the noise and dirt from construction," said Zhang Yi, a school teacher who lives in a Putuo District residential complex near a subway construction site.

(Shanghai Daily January 18, 2006)