BEIJING  -- Beijing is to set aside special lanes for vehicles serving the upcoming Olympic Games, according to local traffic authorities 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 September 20, the spokesman said.

Beijing, which hosts the Olympics from August 8-24 and the Paralympics from September 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 plate numbers to keep vehicles off the roads on alternate days from July 20 to September 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.