Columbus is organized around an outer belt and a crossroads. I-270 circles the whole metro, touching Dublin, Worthington, Westerville, Gahanna, Grove City and Hilliard, while I-70 and I-71 cross just south of downtown and share a stretch of freeway that locals know for its tight merges. I-670 runs east from downtown past the airport toward Gahanna, SR 315 follows the Olentangy River north past Ohio State, and US 33 angles northwest toward Dublin and Marysville and southeast toward Lancaster.
High Street is the spine of the city, running north from German Village through downtown, the Short North, the Ohio State campus and Clintonville toward Worthington. Broad Street crosses it east to west at the Statehouse. Traffic is manageable most of the day, but the downtown split where I-70 and I-71 overlap, the I-270 interchanges at Polaris and Dublin, and SR 315 near campus all back up at rush hour, and a stalled car in those merges is dangerous to sit in.
John Glenn Columbus International Airport sits on the east side off I-670, and its parking garages and long-term lots see a steady stream of tired batteries after trips. Rickenbacker International Airport to the south handles cargo and a few passenger flights. COTA buses cover the city, with the CMAX rapid line on Cleveland Avenue, but Columbus is built for driving, and most households have no easy alternative when a car will not start.
For a mobile mechanic, that spread-out layout is a strength. Most neighborhoods have driveways or alley garages, the suburbs on the outer belt are a short run apart, and the tighter spots, such as German Village's narrow brick lanes, the permit zones of the Short North and the student blocks near campus, just take a little planning about where to park.