The road runs through the heart of the capital city and carries much of the cross-town traffic, but the ambitious expansion plan will take several months, the semi-official China News Service reported.

It will be strengthened to take greater pressure from tanks, missiles and other military hardware that will be on display at the Oct 1 celebration, the International Herald Leader newspaper said.

It is also likely to be widened to 10 lanes in most sections, the China News Service added.

Chang'an Jie, as it is known in Chinese, will not be shut off because most of the major work will be done overnight, the report quoted an official from the city road management bureau as saying.

But further snarl-ups on the city's already choked streets will be hard to avoid as traffic is diverted to other routes or squeezed into fewer lanes.

The October parade will mark six decades since Mao Zedong declared that China had 'stood up", and three decades since the launch of sweeping reforms that set the country on the path to becoming the world's third-largest economy.

The army, navy and air force will turn out in strength for what will be a rare flexing of military muscle by a government that usually prefers to emphasise its 'peaceful rise'.

There was a similar procession through the heart of the capital in 1999, to celebrate half a century of Communist rule, but apparently the missiles and equipment have got heavier since. -- REUTERS