SALT LAKE CITY?Expect delays. Olympic transportation planners say that’s their most important message to Games spectators.

The longest delays will be on a steep stretch of Interstate 80 connecting Salt Lake City with mountain venues.

“I-80 in the [morning] peak period will be the most complicated and difficult place to get through on any given day,” said John Njord, executive director of the Utah Department of Transportation. “If we don’t have a 20 percent reduction in background traffic, we’ll have a very serious problem.”

However, a panel of transportation specialists said Thursday morning that they are as prepared as possible.