Dive Brief:
- Students considering spending four years on a campus hard-hit by winter can sometimes be convinced by the promise of extensive underground tunnels.
- University Business reports that underground tunnel systems also give students in wheelchairs easy access from building to building and allow for quick maintenance to utility piping.
- On many campuses, the tunnels were relics of earlier construction, but since students capitalized on the underground mode of transportation, some schools have begun incorporating tunnel extensions into new building plans, University Business reports.
Dive Insight:
Northern winters are cold, windy, snowy, and often miserable. Tunnels provide a respite from biting wind chills and reduce the amount of time students have to spend walking outside. University Business also profiled the University of Regina in Saskatchewan, Canada, which has ground-level pedestrian walkways between all of its buildings. Either way, schools have a selling point to convince prospective students who grew up in the north to stay or students who have never seen snow to come. On many campuses, the origin of such tunnels are often shrouded in mystery, giving them an extra element of intrigue.