City officials preparing for the G-20 summit are saying residents, businesses and employees should start planning in earnest for the late September meeting, but are still not saying exactly what to plan for.

No details have been released on which streets in Downtown, Oakland and the North Side will be closed by security or traffic perimeters on Sept. 24 and 25. No word has been formally issued to the nearly 5,000 residents Downtown -- particularly those living near the David L. Lawrence Convention Center -- on how they will pass through security barriers to get home or to work.

"The question is, how much time do you need to plan?" said Bill Flanagan of the Allegheny Conference on Community Development. "I'll go back to the blizzard analogy. We would have 72 hours to figure out what to do and somehow we would all deal with it and get through it. We have weeks to think about [the G-20]."

Nineteen heads of state, their finance ministers and officials from the European Union are coming to the late September summit, along with thousands of expected journalists and protesters. Security plans are closely guarded -- and largely held at the federal level -- so local officials have their tongues tied.

"Understand that a lot of your questions we can't answer," said mayoral spokeswoman Joanna Doven at the weekly press briefing by the Pittsburgh G-20 Partnership yesterday.

Some details are coming together.

The city is going to stage police officers during the summit at Point State Park. Tents will be in the park for the Sept. 20 Junior Great Race and the Sept. 27 Great Race, and police officers are expected to stage there during the week, city Public Safety director Michael Huss said.

Mayor Luke Ravenstahl is asking Pittsburgh City Council to consider coming back from its August recess early to vote on legislation related to the summit. The bills will include resolutions to accept up to $15 million in federal and state funding, and public safety related bills barring protesters from wearing masks or using equipment to hinder dispersal of protest activities.

The legislation is expected to be submitted this week. Mr. Ravenstahl's chief of staff Yarone Zober said the public safety legislation will track measures adopted in Denver during last year's Democratic National Convention and in Washington, D.C., during this year's presidential inauguration. As for the prohibition on masks, the city needs people "to be identifiable so they don't go out and destroy properties," he said.

Witold Walczak, legal director of the Pennsylvania branch of the American Civil Liberties Union, vowed to fight the mask prohibition and others in federal court if the city pursues them.

Mask-wearers on the Penguins and Pirates should be put on notice, Mr. Walczak joked. "Marc-Andre Fleury and Ryan Doumit might want to take out insurance in case they're banned."

Mr. Zober said the bills had been vetted by the city lawyers.

City Council is due to return to work Aug. 28 and Mr. Ravenstahl wants the legislation approved by first week of September. That would probably require council to suspend its rules, which normally requires bills two weeks to be approved at the earliest.

The Pittsburgh Downtown Partnership has created a hotline at 412-325-0159 where Downtown residents can call with G-20 questions.

Local nonprofits will hold a $10 panel discussion on the G-20 Tuesday in the Strip District. More information is available at http://www.lpinc.org/.

Mr. Flanagan called on city businesses to do three things in the run-up to the summit: Figure out how to communicate quickly with employees and public safety officials on last-minute summit changes; work on transportation plans for employees; and work on contingency plans if they are affected by security perimeters.

Businesses can sign up to receive government-approved security information at http://www.pittsburghcoalitionforsecurity.org/prbchs_becon.asp