Guangzhou City Construction Committee is mulling narrowing the width of vehicle lanes and increasing their number to decrease traffic congestion, South Metropolis Daily reported yesterday.

It is said that in the early days of Guangzhou’s road construction, lanes on main roads were 3.75m wide, but on roads built more recently the lanes are 3.5m.

“The plan can work if lanes on main roads are narrowed from 3.75m to 3.25m and the width of greenbelts, isolation strips and sidewalks are adjusted” said Zeng ying, an engineer who was part of the investigation.

He said Guangzhou traffic police suggested narrowing the width of lanes from 3.75 to 3.25 in 2009, but the proposal was not accepted because the national standard for the width of a lane on a main road was 3.5m at that time.