The $40 million plan will see the two-km-long pedestrian mall entirely repaved, the closure of one lane in front of Wisma Atria and the new Ion Orchard to make way for a bigger public footpath, as well as more ambient night lighting.

The plans were revealed at a briefing chaired by the Singapore Tourism Board (STB) on Monday morning. The spruce-up is part of the remaking of Orchard Road into a premier shopping destination, not just for Singapore but also for the world.

STB's assistant chief executive of Leisure Margaret Teo said with the help of the Land Transport Authority, the National Parks Board and the Urban Redevelopment Authority, the Orchard Road stretch from Tanglin Mall all the way down to Le Meredien Hotel will be transformed to make the popular shopping belt a pleasant stroll.

3 zones - flowers, forest, fruits themes

There will be three distinct zones, divided by themes of flowers, forest and fruits. The flowers theme will see 21 flower totem planters lining the roads from Forum The Shopping Mall to Liat Towers.

The forest theme will encompass the stretch from Tangs to Paragon, featuring massive glass panels with etchings of foliage and coloured lighting to make it more visually exciting. In this zone, one lane of vehicular traffic will be closed to make way for a bigger pedestrian mall.

The existing five-lane traffic will become a four-lane road in front of Wisma Atria and Ion Orchard. The 300-m pedestrian stretch in front of Meritus Mandarin and Mandarin Shopping Arcade will also be widened, but LTA has not firmed up plans on whether it will involve the closing of one lane of traffic, or narrowing of current lanes.

Finally, the fruits theme, harkening back to the belt's history as a nutmeg and cinnamon orchard, nutmeg and cinnamon trees will be introduced.

To enhance the shoppers' and pedestrians' experience, the pavement will all be done up in a granite grey with steel street furniture like benches to replace the existing concrete ones.

Mall owners, who fear that the new Marina Bay Sands integrated resort and the Formula One race in Marina Bay would overshadow the once glitzy Orchard Road, welcome the move to bring more buzz back to the shopping belt.