Access to areas around the Richmond speed skating oval will be restricted during the 2010 Games. (CBC)

People who live or work near Olympic venues should expect significant changes in those neighbourhoods when the 2010 Games come to town, the Vancouver Organizing Committee warns.

VANOC officials launched a series of public meetings this week to let the public learn more about how the Games will affect their communities.

The message at the second meeting, in Richmond on Wednesday night, was to expect tight security everywhere, from land to air to sea, during the Games. The city is home to the new speed skating oval built for the Games.

VANOC officials launched a series of public meetings this week to let the public learn more about how the Games will affect their communities.

The message at the second meeting, in Richmond on Wednesday night, was to expect tight security everywhere, from land to air to sea, during the Games. The city is home to the new speed skating oval built for the Games.

"I don't know if you've got any football fans in there, but it's like a big deal, here. There is quite a bit of people attending this. So it's like planning 17 Super Bowls for us — it's a huge event and it is going to be safe," said RCMP Cpl. Manon Chouinard with the Vancouver 2010 Integrated Security Unit.

Anyone living near an Olympic venue will be given notice if security for the Games will prevent them from moving freely, said Chouinard.

Richmond residents learned the security plan for their city includes closing the dike pathway and some of the roads around the new speed skating oval.

But Greg Nelson, a dentist whose office is right in the middle of the one of the celebration sites that will host public events during the Games, was frustrated by the lack of specifics available from officials on Wednesday.

So far, the VANOC has promised increased public transit and a new Olympic bus network. Officials said road and traffic restrictions will not be announced until in early 2009.

"So have you got any idea when you're going to have information for us?" Nelson asked the officials at the public meeting.

Nelson said transportation was his biggest worry. With no parking allowed around Olympic venues, he was concerned how his patients would reach his office.

"I need to know what their plan is going to be for accommodating those of us who are in the O-zone," said Nelson, using the nickname given to Olympic areas.

Farther north, the Sea-to-Sky Highway linking Vancouver and Whistler will also be a focus for the security unit, which includes both the Vancouver and West Vancouver police forces, the RCMP and the Canadian Armed Forces.