Go Montgomery!

The Montgomery County Department of Transportation (MCDOT), Division of Parking has installed a car counting system in the Bethesda-Elm Parking Garage, also known as Garage 57, with signs at the entrances that display the number of available parking spaces. The 914-space garage is located at 4841 Bethesda Avenue between Bethesda Avenue, Elm Street, Arlington Road and Woodmont Avenue.  

 

The car counting system was installed to help mitigate the impact on parking availability when the two surface parking lots located at the intersection of Woodmont and Bethesda avenues will close for about 30 months. The two lots have a total of 279 spaces and are popular with short- and long-term parkers. A new parking garage with 940 public parking spaces will be built on the site through a public-private partnership project.

 

The new counting system uses ultrasonic sensors installed at the garage’s entry and exit lanes that transmit the information to a computer server, enabling County staff to monitor parking, update the counts or change the message that is displayed on the signs. When the garage reaches capacity, the signs will show the word “Full.”

 

The Bethesda-Elm Parking Garage contains the following types of meters:

•           218 two-hour meters;

•           267 four-hour meters;

•           399 15-hour meters;

•           2 12.5-hour carpool meters; and 

•           28 parking spaces for disabled patrons.

 

Other parking alternatives to Lot 31 include the Woodmont Corner Garage (Garage 11), at Woodmont Avenue and Old Georgetown Road, and the Auburn-Del Ray Garage (Garage 36), as well as privately operated parking facilities surrounding Lot 31. Parkers can also use the free Bethesda Circulator shuttle bus, which has expanded its schedule and frequency of service. 

 

Additional information on Circulator service is available online. For more information on parking in Montgomery County’s public lots and garages, go to the County’s website.