Fort Worth grew up around the stockyards and rail lines on the Trinity River, and its freeways still meet near downtown. I-35W runs north toward Alliance and Denton and south toward Burleson, I-30 heads east toward Arlington and Dallas and west toward Weatherford, and I-20 crosses the south side. Loop 820 circles the city, SH 121 and SH 183 run northeast toward DFW Airport, the Chisholm Trail Parkway heads southwest toward Cleburne, and SH 199 runs northwest toward Lake Worth and Azle.
I-35W north of downtown has been rebuilt and widened around the Alliance growth, but it still backs up with trucks and commuters, and the I-30 and I-35W interchange near downtown is a daily choke point. Frontage roads run alongside most freeways and give a disabled car somewhere safer to stop. For a mobile mechanic, the city's spread is the main challenge; the good news is that neighborhoods like Fairmount, Arlington Heights and Ridglea sit on easy street grids, and newer subdivisions to the north and southwest have wide driveways.
DFW International lies east between Fort Worth and Dallas, and Meacham International Airport handles general aviation on the north side. Trinity Metro runs buses, the TEXRail line to DFW Airport and, with Dallas, the Trinity Railway Express. Naval Air Station Fort Worth Joint Reserve Base sits on the west side near Lake Worth, and Alliance's industrial airport and warehouse district fill the far north with freight traffic. Big events at the Stockyards, Will Rogers and the stadiums in nearby Arlington can clog local roads, so non-urgent repairs nearby are easier on quieter days.