The street system in Phoenix is laid out in a traditional grid system, with most roads oriented either North-South or East-West. The zero point is the intersection of Central Avenue and Washington Street. Numbered Avenues run north-south west of Central; numbered Streets run north-south east of Central. Major arterial streets are spaced one mile apart. The one-mile blocks are divided into approximately 800 house numbers, although this varies. Scottsdale Road, being 7200 East, is approximately 7200 / 800 = 9 miles east of Central. The Valley Metro bus numbers are also based on this numbering system, with the Central Avenue bus being Route Zero, and Scottsdale Road being Route 72.

Freeways and expressways

• I-10 (the Maricopa and Papago Freeways) from Los Angeles travels from the west into downtown and exits to the southeast towards Tucson. It connects numerous cities:
  • Buckeye
  • Goodyear
  • Avondale
  • Phoenix
  • Tempe
  • Chandler
    
    
• I-17 (the Black Canyon Freeway) begins in downtown Phoenix and travels north to Flagstaff. It connects several metro area places:
  • Phoenix
  • North Phoenix
  • Anthem
    
    
• SR 51 is a freeway beginning near downtown Phoenix and heading north, connecting:
  • Phoenix
  • Paradise Valley
  • North Phoenix
    
    
• US 60 also travels through the heart of the city, heading northwest as Grand Avenue and and east of downtown as the Superstition Freeway. US 60 connects:
  • Surprise
  • Peoria
  • Glendale
  • Phoenix
  • Tempe
  • Mesa
  • Gilbert
  • Apache Junction
    
    
• Loop 101 (the Agua Fria, Price, and Pima Freeways) is also a major highway that forms a semicircle around the suburbs of:
  • Glendale
  • Peoria
  • North Phoenix
  • Scottsdale
  • Tempe
  • Chandler
    
    
• Loop 202 forms another semicircle around the eastern suburbs connecting:
  • Tempe
  • Mesa
  • Gilbert
  • Chandler
    
    
• Loop 303 is in planning/construction phases as a freeway forming a semicircle around the western suburbs, including:
  • Peoria
  • Surprise
  • Buckeye
  • Goodyear

Phoenix has been rapidly expanding its highway system. In 1985, voters passed a proposition establishing a ½ cent general sales tax to fund new urban freeways: The 51 (Piestewa Freeway), the Loop 101 (Agua Fria Freeway/Pima Freeway/Price Freeway), the 143 (the Hohokam Expressway), the 153 (the Sky Harbor Expressway), the Loop 202 (the Red Mountain and Santan Freeways), and the Loop 303 (the Estrella Freeway), and the final section of the I-10. Most of these have been completed by 2005, with the Loop 202 and the Loop 303 being in the final stages of construction and development.

Because Phoenix freeways were funded primarily by local sales tax dollars rather than federal money, newer freeways are given state route designation rather than Interstate designation. Phoenix is the largest city in the United States to have no 3-digit Interstates.