Anchorage fills a broad bowl between Cook Inlet and the Chugach Mountains, and two highways tie it to the rest of the state. The Glenn Highway leaves downtown heading northeast past Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson toward Eagle River, Chugiak and the Mat-Su Valley. The Seward Highway runs south as a divided freeway through Midtown and South Anchorage, then narrows along Turnagain Arm toward Girdwood and the Kenai Peninsula. Inside the Bowl, Minnesota Drive, Tudor Road, the Northern Lights and Benson pair, Muldoon Road and Dimond Boulevard carry most of the traffic.
Winter changes everything about these roads. Plowed snow narrows lanes, intersections glaze over at dusk, and the Glenn commute into town backs up whenever there's fresh snow or a crash near the base. The Seward along Turnagain Arm has few places to pull over, and avalanche closures and moose on the road are real hazards. Hillside streets climb steeply into the Chugach foothills and turn treacherous in freezing rain. A no-start or a slide-off in any of these places is a common reason to get a mechanic out rather than wait for a tow in the cold.
Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport sits on the west side near Sand Lake and Turnagain, and its long-term lots see plenty of cars that won't start after a trip. Merrill Field, a small airport near downtown, handles private planes. People Mover buses cover the main corridors and the Alaska Railroad runs north and south from its downtown depot, but most households still depend on their own vehicles every day of the year.
