Bethesda weekend parking: Still free, still too crowded

Montgomery County Executive Ike Leggett wants to increase parking tickets to help close the County’s $800 million budget gap. If the County is looking for parking revenues, it should also look at its overflowing weekend parking in Bethesda.

There are two public parking lots most convenient to most shops in Bethesda: the surface lot at Woodmont and Bethesda Avenues, and the garage inside Bethesda Row with entrances on Elm Street and Bethesda Avenue. Nearby are many pay garages charging $7 for an evening, but the public garages are free, even on busy Saturday nights.

As you might expect, the Woodmont lot is always full on weekends. Any time I’ve tried to park there, there are typically 3-4 other cars circling around looking for spaces. As soon as someone gives up, someone else comes in. In the garage, it’s almost as bad during the day, and just as bad at night. Worse yet, the garage gets backed up with traffic from drivers crawling up the ramps and then, in some cases, right back down again.

Last weekend, Greater Greater Wife and I visited Bethesda for a birthday party. We got there early to see a movie beforehand, then reached the party on time. But others were 30 minutes late or more because they couldn’t find a place to park. The garage was full. The Woodmont lot was full. One joked he should have parked at Grosvenor and taken the Metro down.

Montgomery County could easily charge $1 an hour on Saturdays and still fill up that garage. There would be just as many people going to Bethesda, less traffic from circling, and more revenue. And everyone going to a birthday party or the movies would be much more likely to find a parking space.

According to the Bethesda Urban Partnership, the garages a little farther away have ample parking on weekends. But almost nobody uses it, at least not until circling around downtown Bethesda and going up and down the ramps in the garage for 30 minutes. Charging for that garage would entice the more price-conscious to use the more distant garages (or transit) while the more time-conscious drivers could actually find spaces.

Extending that idea, the County should make the Woodmont lot a premium lot. It’s most convenient to Wisconsin Avenue, making it the quickest place to park. Instead of making it always the one that fills up first and has the most circlers, they should charge a little extra to park there and make it clear with signs. If someone is coming in to go to the movies or eat at a restaurant and doesn’t want to take the time to navigate the big garage, they can use Woodmont. If they want to save some money, use the Bethesda Row garage or one of the farther garages.