It could mean a total two or three months of set up and then wind down at games sites, including two weeks of internationally televised sporting events.

Greater Bendigo's council is trying to work out how to ease the worst of the pressure expected during the final push, its acting Commonwealth Games director Andrew Cooney told business leaders on Friday.

"We want to make it easy for people to get in and around Bendigo and these precincts, but also try and minimise these disruptions where we can," he told a Be.Bendigo networking breakfast.

"We still need to run a city."

That is one reason organisers are spreading events over multiple venues across the city including the showgrounds, Red Energy Arena and the city centre, Mr Cooney said.

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It remains unclear how much it will cost to prepare sports venues. The council is hoping for clarity from fellow organisers by mid-2023 and for the bulk of builds in 2024 and 2025.

Organisers want to lock Flora Hill's Osborne Street athlete village designs over the course of 2023, with construction crews to kick off by that year's end.

Commonwealth Games minister Jacinta Allan told the audience there would be "so many opportunities" for the city and its businesses despite tight timelines.

"There's probably 175 weeks to go until we will be seeing Commonwealth Games activities here in Bendigo," she said.

"We've absolutely got to get our skates on."

Victoria has stepped in with half the normal preparation time after South African city Durban failed to meet financial targets, triggering a race to find new 2026 hosts.

The council hopes it can ease disruptions for residents by cordoning off sports venues like Red Energy Arena (formerly known as Bendigo Stadium), the showgrounds and the athletes' village planned for Flora Hill.

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Life in the city could then continue around those zones, Mr Cooney said.

Bendigo could host a minimum 53 medal events and sell 200,000 tickets, according to current organiser estimates. Those figures are still a long way from being locked in.

About 1600 athletes along with other nation's team members and officials will use the village alone.

Bendigo and other host cities already have advantages allowing it to plan with such short notice, Ms Allan said.

"One of the reasons we were able to convince the Commonwealth Games Federation to ... make regional Victoria the home of the games is the existing infrastructure we have," she said.

That included road and rail infrastructure, Ms Allan said.

"But there is some opportunity to make some further investments on top of that," she said.

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