VANCOUVER - One of the biggest questions around the logistics of the 2010 Winter Games should be answered this week with the release of the Olympic transportation plan.

What's going to happen to the Sea-to-Sky Highway?

Organizers will ferry thousands of spectators, athletes, officials and media along the 126 kilometre route connecting Vancouver to the host mountain resort of Whistler, B.C.

The vital artery has been one of the weakest links in Games planning as a single accident can tie up traffic for hours and a recent rock slide closed the highway for four days.

In the 2002 Olympic bid book, organizers said highway traffic would be restricted to residents and official Games transportation, during peak Olympic travel times.

Since then, other scenarios, including restricting the highway to Olympic traffic only, were suggested, but the guesswork is expected to end on Wednesday with the release of the overall transportation plan.

John Beks can't wait.

He's not an athlete or a spectator or a member of the Olympic media.

He's a B.C. potato seed farmer who relies on the Sea to Sky Highway to ship tonnes of his product to California and Washington state every February and March.

"They can't stop commerce is what I say, we'll just have to work with whatever constraints they put forward," he said.

For every Olympic body that needs to move around and between Vancouver and Whistler during the Games, there are thousands who just want to get to work.

Concerns about Olympic transportation have been the most persistent issue raised at community meetings, said Pemberton Mayor Jordan Sturdy, whose village is just north of Whistler.

Many of Pemberton's residents work in Whistler and rely on the highway to access hospitals and other services.

"We all understand that this is a big event, we all understand that life is going to change for awhile," said Sturdy.

"But we have to be concerned and vigilant as well."

Organizers will need to sell the overall plan to a public still not 100 per cent in favour of the Games.

Beks said his thoughts about the Olympics will depend on the plan.

"I think it's great but I could do without it too," he said.

While the Sea-to-Sky is the longest Olympic transportation corridor, similar questions have been asked about how traffic will be managed over Vancouver's bridges and on its busy city streets.

"We support what they're trying to achieve but we need to ensure that people still come downtown and not everyone is going to be able to close their businesses and tell their staff to take time off," said Charles Gauthier, the executive director of the Downtown Vancouver Business Improvement Association.

He was recently able to secure a commitment from Olympic organizers that no downtown businesses will be located within the anticipated security perimeter around Games venues.

None of the people asked directly about the details of the plan would divulge them ahead of schedule, but suggested there would not be total closure of the highways or bridges.

A tentative plan for the city of Vancouver was released last year and indicated that Olympic-priority lanes will be created in the downtown core, wide-scale parking restrictions will be put in place and several downtown streets will be closed altogether.

Vancouver officials say they're expecting some push back.

"I think there is bound to be frustration when people see what's proposed for some folks," said Vancouver city councillor Geoff Meggs.

But there is room to fine tune the plans, Meggs said, adding there is no room for error when it comes to this piece of the Olympic puzzle.

"Nothing's worse for an Olympic athlete than to miss an event because they are stuck in traffic," he said.

Included in the transportation plan are the details of the Olympic network which ferries athletes and media around for events.

At a recent meeting of the International Olympic Committee and Vancouver organizers, the idea was raised that some of those services be cut in order to save money.