Start from main campus and you could eventually reach north campus through a series of underground tunnels.
But the tunnel system isn't as exciting as it seems, said Mary Vosevich, director of the Physical Plant Department.
"It's where our steam, domestic water, chilled water, electricity, voice and data lines are placed to reach all the buildings on the campus," she said.
They don't, however, span to Downtown, like rumors have suggested, Vosevich said.
"They are strictly restricted to our campus," she said. "They're not accessible by PNM or anybody else unless they go through the utilities division."
There are 6 miles of tunnels on campus.
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"We're pretty protective of that space because it's an important component of making this campus work," Vosevich said. "When you've got a failure, things have a tendency of stopping here."
Other rumors say the tunnels are used to transport dead bodies to and from medical science buildings, but those aren't exactly true, said Mary Kenney, director of Facility Planning for the Health Sciences Center.
"That's a little unlikely," she said. "As I understand it, the bodies are transported via ambulance."
Systems of tunnels connecting a few north campus buildings can be used by pedestrians, Kenney said, but they also provide utilities.
"During the winter, there's some staff going through it, but that's about it," she said.
The tunnels have exits at the Basic Medical Sciences Building, the College of Nursing, the College of Pharmacy, the Medical School Library and the Family Practice Center.
Jeff Zumwalt, associate director of utilities, said most people who think they have accessed the tunnels have probably entered the mechanical room, which stores the steam and chilled water.
"That's typically where the tunnel connects to the building," he said.
Vosevich said uninformed students could get seriously injured if they ventured down into the tunnels, but he isn't aware of any serious injuries taking place in the tunnels. She credits security for that.
The extreme security measures into the tunnel systems are not unfounded, and the tunnels, which have card-key access, can be dangerous, Vosevich said.
"We have a lot of old pipes on this campus, and so, as an example, if we were to have a steam leak in that environment, somebody could really be hurt by a pipe breaking and being hit with that steam," she said.
In the summertime, the temperature reaches 120 F in the tunnels.
"They're not pleasant to be in," Vosevich said. "It's a challenge working in that environment."
Zumwalt agreed.
"There is nothing romantic about them," he said. "They can get pretty dusty, hot and cold."
Not every building has access to the tunnels - only the larger ones fed by major utility lines, Vosevich said.
The tunnels are in the process of being improved, she said, and by the end of the spring semester, a new phase of projects should be complete.
"We are working diligently to improve our infrastructure from failures that we might experience," Vosevich said. "These problems are decreasing more and more every day."
Vosevich said the University showed incredible foresight in the 1950s when designing these tunnels.
"They are the backbone for the campus," she said.
