Raleigh's roads are built in rings. I-440, still known to most drivers as the Beltline, circles the inner city past North Hills, Cameron Village and NC State, and the 540 outer loop swings wider through North Raleigh, Brier Creek and around toward Knightdale and Garner. I-40 comes in from the west past RDU and Cary, skirts the south side and heads toward the coast, while I-87 carries US 64 and US 264 east toward Knightdale and Wendell.
Capital Boulevard, US 1, is the main road north toward Wake Forest, Glenwood Avenue carries US 70 northwest toward Brier Creek and Durham, and Wade Avenue links downtown with I-40 and the fairgrounds. Morning traffic converges on the Beltline and on I-40 toward the Research Triangle Park, and those are the stretches where a breakdown causes the most grief. Capital Boulevard in particular mixes fast traffic with frequent signals and driveways, which makes it a hard place to sit with a dead car. Inside the Beltline, many older streets are narrow and canopied with oaks, so a mechanic often plans a curbside spot rather than counting on a wide driveway.
Raleigh-Durham International Airport sits northwest of the city between Brier Creek and Morrisville, and its lots and decks see plenty of tired batteries after long trips. GoRaleigh buses serve the core and the main corridors, and Union Station downtown handles intercity trains, but most of the metro drives, which is why fixing a car in the driveway instead of at a shop saves a real chunk of the day.