Detroit's freeways radiate from downtown like spokes, and its big avenues follow the old radial roads outward. I-94, the Edsel Ford Freeway, crosses the city east-west through Midtown and New Center, heading toward the airport in one direction and the east-side suburbs in the other. I-75 runs from the southwest side near the Ambassador Bridge through downtown as the Fisher Freeway, then north as the Chrysler Freeway toward Oakland County. I-96, the Jeffries, heads northwest, M-10, the Lodge, runs from downtown to Southfield, and M-39 cuts north-south across the west side. Woodward, Gratiot, Grand River and Michigan avenues fan out from the center, and Eight Mile Road marks the northern city limit.
Long stretches of those freeways run below ground level, which matters in a downpour: heavy summer storms have flooded I-94 and the Lodge more than once, stranding cars with water in the intake or soaked electrical connections. Potholes and construction lane shifts are year-round facts, too. Away from the freeways, Detroit's wide avenues and the mile-road grid in the suburbs make it simple for a mechanic to reach a driveway in Rosedale Park, a lot in Corktown or a parking structure downtown. Most neighborhood blocks also have room for a service van to pull alongside the curb.
Detroit Metropolitan Airport is in Romulus, southwest along I-94, and its terminal structures and long-term lots see their share of dead batteries. The QLine streetcar runs up Woodward to New Center and the People Mover loops downtown, so many people working in the core can leave the car at home while it's repaired. Trucks bound for the Ambassador Bridge and the tunnel to Windsor keep southwest-side roads busy around the clock.