Recreation, Culture & Social Support Services
Transportation Information for Newcomers
Wood Buffalo is a large region in the Northeastern part of Alberta. Most people who live in the region live in the urban area of Fort McMurray, which is the urban service area for the region. Residents of Wood Buffalo don’t all work in Fort McMurray. Many of them travel to work in the oil sands sites located north and south of Fort McMurray.Travel by Road
Fort McMurray has a public transit system that serves all the neighbourhoods in the urban area. Most routes run every 30 minutes on week days, but service on holidays, evenings and weekends is less frequent. There is no transit service on statutory holidays. School buses have routes to bring children to and from elementary and secondary schools. There are also bus companies that provide service to smaller communities in Wood Buffalo, and to Edmonton and Calgary. Charter bus services move workers to and from some mining and construction job sites.
Highway 63 is the main road connecting Fort McMurray to the oil sands and to other main centres across the province. Highway 63 runs through Fort McMurray, and this busy road is also the only major road both in and out of the city. Improvements are being made to the road, including twinning sections of the highway. However, most of this busy highway is still one-lane, and winter road conditions can make travel very slow at times.
The bridge over the Athabasca River connects the large residential neighbourhoods of Timberlea and Thickwood Heights with the downtown area. There are more services and stores being built in Timberlea and Thickwood Heights, however most people need access to the services available in the downtown area. During rush hour, traffic over this bridge can be very slow and the roads are full of industrial traffic. Getting to and from downtown can take much longer than usual. In order to accommodate the increased volume of traffic, a new bridge is being built which is scheduled to be open in 2012.
Interactive maps:
- Community Street Maps
- Transit Map
- Land Use Maps
- Parks and Trails
- Map Wood Buffalo
(Internet Explorer only)
Travel by Air
The Fort McMurray Regional Airport Authority is the region's major airport, with many daily scheduled flights and charter flights. It services about 700,000 passengers every year. There is also a regional airport in Fort Chipewyan.
Distance to Other Communities
Fort McMurray is:
- 439 km (273 miles) north of Edmonton.
- 733 km (455 miles) north of Calgary
- 280 km (175 miles) south of Fort Chipewyan
- 483 km (300 miles) south of the Northwest Territories
- 87 km (54 miles) west of the Saskatchewan border.
