Minneapolis straddles the Mississippi, and most of its freeways meet at the edge of downtown. I-35W runs north-south through the middle of the city and crosses the river just east of downtown on its way to Roseville and the northern suburbs. I-94 comes in from St. Paul across the river, swings around downtown through the Lowry Hill Tunnel and heads north toward Brooklyn Center. I-394 runs west to St. Louis Park and Wayzata with express lanes in the middle. Hiawatha Avenue carries traffic southeast toward the airport, the Crosstown Highway cuts across the south side, and the I-494 and I-694 beltway rings the whole metro.
The Crosstown and 35W commons, the Lowry Hill Tunnel and the I-94 stretch between downtown and the river are where most freeway breakdowns end up, especially on the first snowy evening of the season. Downtown itself is laced with one-way streets and a skyway system that keeps people indoors, which is why so many downtown cars sit in ramps for long stretches. Neighborhood streets are a regular grid with alleys behind most blocks, and many homes have a detached garage on the alley, which makes winter repairs far more comfortable.
Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport sits just southeast of the city limits, and its long-term ramps see plenty of dead batteries after a January trip. The Blue Line light rail runs from downtown down Hiawatha to the airport and Bloomington, and the Green Line runs through the University of Minnesota to downtown St. Paul, so plenty of people leave the car at home on a cold day while it gets repaired.