There are two major freeways in the Federal Way area. The first, Interstate 5, is the major north-south freeway in the Central Puget Sound region, which runs north through Seattle to Canada and south through Portland to California and the US-Mexico border. Interstate 405, its primary beltway circling Seattle to the east, connects with I-5 approximately eleven miles to the north and runs east through Renton and then north along the east side of Lake Washington through Bellevue, Kirkland and Bothell, where it rejoins I-5. The second major freeway is State Route 18 which runs northeast from Federal Way, eventually connecting with Interstate 90, the principal east-west freeway connecting Seattle and Washington State with all points east, eventually terminating in Boston.

There are seven major roadways that serve the activity centers within Federal Way, including the South 320th Street corridor between Pacific Highway South (SR 99) and I-5. The roadway system within the City connects to the surrounding regional transportation network, which provides access to major activity centers including Seattle, Seattle Tacoma International Airport, Tacoma, the Port of Tacoma, Kent and Auburn. The Tacoma Narrows Bridge crosses Puget Sound in Tacoma, connecting to Kitsap County via state routes 16 and 3. Other cross-south travel is on the various ferry routes run by Washington State, consisting mostly of auto-passenger only ferries.