Parking and traffic in downtown Bethesda just got a whole lot better: This morning, Woodmont Avenue across from Barnes & Noble reopened and the Capital Crescent Garage opened, under the site of the new Darcy condominium and The Flats apartment building.
Construction of the buildings had closed Woodmont Avenue between Bethesda Avenue and Leland Street for about two years—and had eliminated about 250 parking spaces in the former Lot 31.
The new parking garage contains 960 public spaces, which will be available free of charge until March 1.
“This mixed use partnership project will contribute to the economic growth of the County and provide parking in an area that is an extremely popular Bethesda destination,” County Executive Ike Leggett said in a statement. “We want to thank the community for their patience during the more than two years of disruption along a very busy corridor. For those who choose to drive to this area, we encourage them to try the new garage at no charge for the first few weeks.”
The garage has entrances on Bethesda and Woodmont avenues. There are three pedestrian exits leading to the east and west sides of Woodmont Avenue and directly onto the Capital Crescent Trail.
According to a Montgomery County Department of Transportation statement, the garage has “a parking availability system that wirelessly tracks the number of available parking spaces on each garage level and displays the information outside every entrance and on each floor. Initially, the signs will say ‘open’ until the car counting system is needed.”
The project’s developers are StonebridgeCarras of Bethesda and PN Hoffman of Washington, D.C. Both The Darcy and The Flats are expected to be completed in May.
The entrance to the newly reopened Woodmont Avenue near Bethesda row. Credit: Andrew Metcalf
A temporary pedestrian walkway has been marked off with plastic barriers in the still very active construction zone near the Lot 31 project. Credit: Andrew Metcalf
The entrance to the public parking garage from Bethesda Avenue. Credit: Andrew Metcalf
