As Hong Kong will co-host the Olympic equestrian events in August, the streets around the Sha Tin competition venue have been transformed with a vibrant Games theme.

The Highways Department has won approval to use the events' patent pictograms in road paving blocks in the district. The Transport Department has also designed Olympic decals for traffic signal poles.

We are ready!: Highways Department Senior Maintenance Engineer Mak Wing-shiu displays the two paving block designs with Olympic and Paralympic equestrian event pictograms. A shuttle bus terminus has been built near University MTR Station, and Olympic decals have been put on traffic signal posts. More Photos

Road revamp

Highways Department Senior Maintenance Engineer (Southeast New Territories) Mak Wing-shiu told news.gov.hk the road embellishment project has been in planning since early last year and is aimed at fuelling the city's Olympic atmosphere.

"The department applied to the Beijing Organising Committee for the Games of the XXIX Olympiad to use the two pictograms for the Olympic and Paralympic equestrian events in road paving blocks. The committee has strict requirements on the patterns' size and colour. After taking into account factors such as aesthetics and durability, granite was finally chosen as the paving material, to symbolise athletes' resoluteness," he said.

Overcoming repeated manufacturing problems, the department finally gained the committee's approval for the paving block design, which will have natural black granite carved into the pictograms' shape embedded in natural pink granite.

Each block measures 60cm square and weighs 50kg. From early July more than 200 blocks will be permanently laid along the Yuen Wo Road footpath, acting as a directional sign leading people to the main event venue.

Paving blocks will also be laid at the shuttle bus terminus for the main competition venue located next to the University MTR Station.

Other upgrades

The renovations are among a host of upgrades to the district's facilities, such as the revamping of railings, pergolas, benches, footbridges, subways and flyovers. Evergreen and flowering shrubs will be planted in the verge or central dividers of Tai Po Road, Tolo Highway and Lion Rock Tunnel Road.

"The department will have a 24-hour standby team and contractors to handle emergency road repairs during the equestrian events," Mr Mak said.

The Transport Department has put Olympic-themed decals on traffic signal poles at 445 road junctions, on 5,600 parking meters and in some Government tunnel exits to publicise the Games across Hong Kong.

Street closures

To meet security and transport requirements Sha Tin's Yi Ching Lane and Pak Hok Ting Street inner lane will be designated prohibited zones. The nearby footpath will also be closed. The former public transport interchange next to Tai Wai MTR Station will be converted into a shuttle bus terminus.

The Shing Mun River footpath and cycling track between the Sports Institute and Penfold Park has been closed since May 1 and will reopen November 1.

Some roads will also be temporarily closed for special pedestrian and traffic arrangements two hours before and an hour after the events on each competition day. They include two bridge sections connecting the institute and Yuen Wo Road, and parts of the cycling tracks east of Sha Tin Road, outside the institute and on Yuen Wo Road opposite the institute.