Duncan Proposes More Parking At Metro Red Line Stations

ba/metro.pr 97-103 Contact: Graham Norton, 301-217-2170

DUNCAN PROPOSES MORE PARKING
AT METRO RED LINE STATIONS For Immediate Release: April 3, 1997

Montgomery County Executive Douglas M. Duncan has outlined to the Washington
Metropolitan Area Transit Authority a plan to add more than 2,000 parking spaces at Metro
Stations in the county. In a letter to the Metro, dated March 18, Duncan said priority should
be given to expanding the Shady Grove garage where 4,200 spaces now fill before the end of
the morning rush period.
"We currently turn away at least 300 people everyday looking for space in our Shady
Grove Garage. Looking to the future, we will need as many as 1,500 more spaces at that
station over the next 10 years to handle Metro demand as Upcounty and Frederick County
growth continues," Duncan said. "There will be county-wide benefits from this expansion, by
taking more cars off crowded roads, and controlling the 'parking demand spillover' that now
occurs from station to station, and into nearby neighborhoods," Duncan added.
In addition to Shady Grove, where 1,100 to 1,500 new spaces would be added,
Duncan's plan also calls for 500 more spaces each at Grosvenor and White Flint, where Metro
parking fills to capacity in the early morning.
To fund the $35 million parking expansion program, Duncan has proposed

-more-

DUNCAN PROPOSES MORE PARKING . 2-2-2-2

issuing special revenue bonds, which would be repaid from revenue generated by Metro re-
enacting a $1.25 surcharge on Metro parkers in the county. The surcharge, which was in
effect from 1989 to 1994 to fund Rockville and Glenmont parking, was removed in 1994
when parking demand went down temporarily. A similar surcharge is currently in effect at
all Metro stations in Fairfax and Prince George's counties. In Montgomery County, the
surcharge is expected to generate $2.5 to 3 million annually.
The 2,100 to 2,500 new spaces in Duncan's proposal, plus the 1,900-space garage
which will open at Glenmont station next July, will increase Metro parking in the county
from 10,000 to 14,000 spaces, an increase of 40 percent. At Glenmont, the surcharge would
be deferred during the first six months in order to build usage at the newly opened station.
Metro's current $1.75 base parking fee at Wheaton station also would be adjusted, so the total
fee there would be the same as the other stations.
Parking at Metro's lots in Montgomery County is currently $1.00 per day, compared to
$1.75 in Prince George's and $2.25 in Fairfax County.
The County Department of Public Works and Transportation has initiated preliminary
studies for a new Shady Grove Garage which would be built on an existing Metro lot and
accessed from I-270 and I-370.

# # #

Return to Montgomery County Press Releases Page.