Community Sandboxes

In October 2023, the City decided to reduce the number of public sandboxes to 100 locations for the 2024-2025 winter season. This decision was informed by public engagement results in 2023, which can be found in the What We Heard Report and the Public Opinion Research Summary.

After the decision was made in October 2023, community leagues and facilities with sandboxes were informed of the planned changes for the 2024-25 winter season and what to expect prior to the implementation of the changes.

Stakeholders, such as community leagues, were emailed an information update and an invitation to register for an information session, which took place between February 28 and March 11, 2024.

At this time, there are no plans for public engagement on the program changes. City staff continue to evaluate the program and gather feedback from sandbox users. If there are future program changes that may require public engagement, this opportunity will be promoted through the community sandboxes web page and on Engaged Edmonton, as well as being shared through a communications campaign for the public and stakeholders.

Only sandboxes and bins available for the public and residents to use are shown on the map.  Other sandboxes are for internal use only by Snow and Ice crews, City contractors and facility staff.  These will be smaller in size, yellow and be locked.  Any sandboxes available for public and residents to use will not have a lock on them and will be the green wooden boxes.  They will also have City-branded labeling that mentions to contact 311 if empty.

The smaller community sandboxes are spaced across Edmonton using a 1km radius to help ensure even spacing. While the 1km is used to help set approximate locations, this does not mean that boxes will be within 1km for all residents. The intent was to have boxes 1km from each neighbourhood boundary, where possible. This spacing is intended to provide vehicle access within a 10-minute drive distance or less.

Based on public and stakeholder engagement feedback as well as operational needs, staff developed site selection criteria to ensure the new sandbox distribution would be equitable and accessible, as well as take into account geography and population demographics. Sandboxes must also be located on public property which is accessible and can be serviced using work vehicles. All existing and new sandbox locations were evaluated according to the following factors:

• Proximity to residential neighbourhoods and to other sandboxes, ensuring that all residential neighbourhoods have a sandbox within 1 km where possible
• Sandboxes are placed in well-lit, high-traffic areas and within 3 metres of a roadway or parking lot to improve vehicular access and not impede sidewalk access
• Sandboxes are accessible by vehicle or on foot, enabling for nearby parking without disrupting traffic
• Smaller community sandboxes are more available in pedestrian-friendly areas, whereas larger sand bins are in areas where residents would be using a vehicle for access
• Some areas with steeper, sloped walkways have additional nearby sandboxes available
   

At this time, the City will only consider increasing the number of sandboxes in response to increased growth in residential areas.  For the time being, the number of public-facing sandboxes will remain at 100 boxes, plus large sand bin sites.

During public engagement, our survey showed that 87% of identified sandbox users use a personal vehicle to get sand.  This included seniors and persons with limited mobility.  Sand is quite heavy and many people would likely find it difficult to carry a pail of sand for more than a couple of minutes.  1 km is equivalent to a 3-5 min drive, or a 15-30 min walk, depending on where the sandbox is located relative to roads and walkways. In that same survey, 93% of respondents were willing to travel up to 10 minutes in a vehicle to get sand. 

Based on feedback, the spacing of sandboxes is likely sufficient for most residents’ needs, especially if this helps guarantee that the nearest sandbox is likely to have sand more often.  The biggest complaint heard during engagement was that the nearest sandbox was often empty.
 

Ultimately, the decisions were affected by geography and where the league buildings are situated relative to major roadways and residential neighbourhoods.  The goal is to have a more even distribution of boxes across residential areas, so some of the locations where a sandbox could be placed include league buildings, parks, schools, intersections, or recreation and leisure centres.

Sand bins are large and can easily and quickly be refilled by sand delivery trucks. Bins hold a large quantity of sand and are refilled faster by large trucks. EcoStation locations available during operating hours. Other locations are available 24/7.  Sand boxes are smaller than bins and located in neighbourhoods.
 

Because they’re large, they can be easily and quickly refilled by sand delivery trucks. Because of the ability to quickly refill them and how much sand they hold, they will provide a more reliable source of sand for residents.

These sandboxes and sand bins are intended for individual, residential use, including community leagues. We are aware that contractors have previously used sand from sandboxes.  Unfortunately, there’s no way to enforce or prevent this from happening, but we’re hoping that having fewer small sandboxes will enable staff to monitor these more closely.  Having large sand bins in areas that are under regular observation and have a lot of traffic, such as at recreation centres, will hopefully help reduce the misuse of sand by contractors.

Businesses are encouraged to obtain their own sandbox and their own supply of sand to keep their on-site walkways safe.  They can either choose to maintain this themselves or use a contracted service.