Sandy Beach Park improvements

We are improving Sandy Beach Park by adding new vehicle parking spaces, updating, and improving the regional pathway connections, and adding new drought-resistant landscaping. The list of improvements includes:

• A newly paved entrance (50 Avenue S.W.) to support accessible travel,
• New vehicle parking spaces,
• Water utility connections for future amenities,
• Enhanced, drought-resistant landscaping,
• Updated regional pathway connection north of 50 Avenue S.W.

Sandy Beach Park is located in southwest Calgary, along the Elbow River, nestled in the community of Altadore. The park is situated below River Park, and contains numerous playgrounds, fire pits, pathways, and picnic sites. Sandy Beach Park is also surrounded by three nearby off-leash areas (River Park, Riverdale, and Britannia).

The Sandy Beach Improvement project is part of the Established Area Growth and Change Strategy. This program provides funding to support short-term (1-3 years) public space projects in established communities where growth and change are happening.The Strategy connects planning, financial and investment decisions to provide the assistance that established communities need to support the growth that is currently taking place.

This work will improve the public realm and support safe, easy, and accessible travel for residents and visitors to Sandy Beach Park.

The project promotes a vibrant outdoor green space with the existing dog park, public river access, and enhanced park and recreation upgrades.

This project will provide the neighbourhood, local businesses, and visitors with an improved public realm for safe, easy, and accessible travel. Also, the project will promote a vibrant and desirable outdoor green space in the park with the existing dog park, public river access, enhanced park and recreation amenities and reduce speeding in the community.  This project will include the following:

• sidewalks, pathway, and bikeway improvements,
• traffic calming and pedestrian safety enhancements,
• park and recreation amenities and upgrades,
• activating public spaces
• additional parking 

The project team met with the community in November 2021 and public engagement was held online from November 29 - December 15, with two virtual open house events. The project team shared the overall designs and participants provided feedback, which can be found in the What We Heard Report.