Campus Life

Pedways 101: A guide to using campus pedways

The U of A Facilities and Operations team gives you an up-to-date list of the best indoor routes on North Campus.

March 07, 2024 By FACILITIES AND OPERATIONS

There are lots of ways to get around North Campus, but did you know you can get almost everywhere using pedways? Pedways can increase accessibility, enhance your feeling of safety and get you between buildings faster. They’re also great for staying indoors when it’s too cold, hot, rainy or windy to be outside.

Brush up on your knowledge of pedways on North Campus — who knows when they might come in handy!

Before we begin …

Pedway is a portmanteau of pedestrian and way. Oxford Languages defines pedways as footways built for pedestrians in an urban area. While this guide is about pedways, our journey will take us through various indoor paths — pedways, hallways and doorways 101 wasn’t as catchy. We’re also not limited to travelling by foot, as these indoor paths accommodate many ways of moving!

Start with interior access routes

Interior access routes are a great place to start. These four routes across North Campus have been established to ensure access to study spaces and access between buildings after hours. All hallways, doorways and pedways along these routes are accessible from 7:30 a.m. to 9:30 p.m. on weekdays. You can access each route through various primary entrances.

Learn more about interior access routes.

Keep your ONEcard on you

Keep in mind that your ONEcard may be required for access to pedways and primary entrances during and after certain hours and access may be restricted to those who learn or work in these buildings. Please ensure you have your valid ONEcard with you at all times to guarantee smooth access to buildings and facilities.

Pedways connecting the west side of North Campus

With pedways, you can get from the Students’ Union Building all the way to the Mechanical Engineering Building and the Donadeo Innovation Centre for Engineering.

Beginning in the Students’ Union Building (SUB), take the stairs or elevator to the second floor and turn the corner around Dinwoodie Lounge. Here, you’ll find a pedway to the Agriculture/Forestry Centre (AF).
For those who park on campus, there is a convenient pedway from the first floor of SUB to Stadium Car Park.
Arriving in AF from the SUB pedway, take the stairs or elevator down to the second level and travel west to find the pedway that ramps gently down into the General Services Building (GSB). Note that the east doors on the second level of AF are a primary entrance for an interior access route.
Once in GSB, take your first right, and you’ll find the pedway with stairs or an elevator up to the Natural Resources Engineering Facility (NRE).
Continue travelling straight through NRE, and you'll find the pedway to the Engineering Teaching and Learning Complex (ETLC). Note that the east doors on the first floor of ETLC are a primary entrance for an interior access route.
From the second floor cafeteria in ETLC you can travel east past the Elko Engineering Garage to find the pedway to Mechanical Engineering Building (MEC) or north around the engineering garage to access the pedway to the Chemical/Materials Engineering building (CME).
Both MEC and CME have pedways with stairs or a ramp that connects to the National Institute for Nanotechnology, effectively connecting all three buildings.
Travel north through CME to get to the Donadeo Innovation Centre for Engineering.
For those who park on campus, there is a convenient connection from the Donadeo Innovation Centre for Engineering to the Windsor Car Park.

Pedways connecting the north side of North Campus

You can get from University Commons all the way to the Biological Sciences Centre using pedways.

This route starts in the pedway between University Commons and the South Academic Building (SAB). This also happens to be a primary entrance for an interior access route. From here you’ll be able to access both buildings, but let’s go towards SAB.
Once in SAB turn right and just keep heading north. At the end of the long hallway, you'll find a ramp or a few steps up to the pedway to the Central Academic Building (CAB).
Making your way north through CAB to the InfoLink desk you’ll find the connection to the Gunning/Lemieux Chemistry Centre. Going east will take you to the pedway to Cameron Library.
If you travel north down the incline and all the way through the Gunning/Lemieux Chemistry Centre you’ll find the doors to the Centennial Centre for Interdisciplinary Science (CCIS) down a ramp. There are three primary entrances in CCIS that connect to an interior access route — the northwest entrance, the southeast entrance and the northeast entrance between CCIS and the CCIS North Lecture Theatres.
To get to the Biological Sciences Centre, stay on the first floor of CCIS and turn right (west). At the Faculty of Science's Student Services Office, turn right and head north down the stairs or ramp towards the CCIS North Lecture Theaters. The Biological Sciences Centre (BS) will be to the left (west). The northwest door of the Psychology wing in BS is a primary entrance to an interior access route
You can also get to the Earth Sciences Building (ESB) from CCIS. Take the elevator or stairs to the second floor and head east, following the only hallway that goes in that direction to find the pedway.
Continuing east through ESB will get you very close to the Tory Building, but you’ll still need to take the stairs or elevator down and go outside to get there.

Pedways connecting the east side of North Campus

Get from the Law Centre or Timms Centre for the Arts all the way to the Tory Lecture Theatre via pedways.

The northeast doors of the Law Centre are a primary entrance that connects to an interior access route. If you start in the Law Centre, take the stairs or elevator to the second floor and go west to find the pedway to the Fine Arts Building (FAB).
If you take the ramp and continue through the second floor of FAB, you’ll find the pedway with a ramp down to HUB Mall (HUB) at the northwest corner
From here you can also head south through FAB to find the sloped pedway up to the Timms Centre.
HUB Mall really is a hub, as it connects to a number of different buildings. If you made your way from FAB to HUB through the pedway, you’ll find yourself at the south end of HUB. From here you can access the pedway to the University LRT Station by turning left.
About one-third of the way through HUB, the floor starts sloping down. Here, you’ll find a pedway to Rutherford North Library on your left under an elevated lounge. You can get to both Rutherford Library North and South from here.
Near the end of HUB, you’ll find the pedway to the Humanities Centre (HC) on your right. A primary entrance to an interior access route is located on the first floor of HC, right where the floorplan bends slightly.
If you keep travelling north until you can’t go any further, you’ll find yourself in the pedway to Alberta School of Business (BUS).
BUS is connected to the Henry Marshall Tory Building with a ramp in the basement, doors on the first floor and a pedway across the atrium on the second floor. You can also get to the Tory Breezeway from the first floor of BUS. The south doors of BUS are a primary entrance to an interior access route. Take the stairs or elevator to reach the first floor.
If you're looking to go a little further, you can reach Tory Lecture Theatres (TL) by heading into the basement of Tory and following the hallway to the northern end of the building. To your right, you'll see a hallway with stairs and a ramp that leads you to TL, also known as the Tory Turtle.

Pedways connecting the south side of North Campus

With pedways, you can get from the Education Centre to the Edmonton Clinic Health Academy and Health Science/Jubilee LRT Station.

It’s important to note that there are no interior access routes between buildings on the south side of North Campus, and access may be restricted to those who learn or work in these buildings.

Starting anywhere in the Education Centre (ED), take the stairs or elevator to the middle of the second floor of Education Centre – South. Here, facing south, you’ll find the slightly arched pedway across 89 Avenue to the Heritage Medical Research Building (HMRC).
Note that there is also a pedway from the second floor of ED South to the Education Car Park.
From HMRC, there is a pedway to the Katz Group Centre for Pharmacy and Health Research on your left, but we will continue south to the Medical Sciences Building (MS).
Up a small incline and at the end of the hallway you’ll see a door to MS on the right and a door to the Walter C. Mackenzie Health Sciences Centre (WMC) on the left.
WMC includes the University of Alberta Hospital, Stollery Children's Hospital, Mazankowski Alberta Heart Institute, Clinical Sciences Building and Kaye Edmonton Clinic. If you needed to get to the Clinical Sciences Building, you would take the left door and head more or less straight south.
Instead, we’ll take the door to MS and turn right. Head to the end of the hall and take a left, then right, then right, then right and then left. This sounds confusing, but basically, we’re just heading west.
On the west side of the Medical Sciences Building, you’ll find the pedway across 114 Street to the Edmonton Clinic Health Academy (ECHA).
Once you’re in ECHA, make your way south along the length of the building. At the south end of ECHA, you’ll find the pedway to Health Sciences/Jubilee station.
From the Health Sciences/Jubilee station, you can access the Kaye Edmonton Clinic to the south or the rest of the Walter C. Mackenzie Health Sciences Centre, including the Clinical Sciences Building, to the east.

Things to keep in mind

Congratulations! You’re now an expert on North Campus pedways. Plus, you have a pretty good understanding of the interior access routes you can use to get around campus after hours.

As you travel around campus using pedways, be aware of your surroundings. Don’t allow someone to follow behind you or hold doors open to areas that are locked or require ONEcard access.

Help is available for accommodations due to accessibility concerns or if you encounter persistent access issues or require assistance. For questions or concerns, contact the Facilities Services Partner for your department or facility.

For current information on building hours, including pedways and primary entrances, visit uab.ca/hours.

Pedway? More like ped-yay!

This guide is based on a story from 2019.