All elevators go out of service at Metropolitan public parking garage in Bethesda

Old Georgetown Road Metropolitan
Public Parking Garage 49 elevators frozen
Thursday night, completely shutting down
all elevator access to and from the 
Montgomery County-owned public parking garage

UPDATE - 9:05 AM: All elevators are still out of service this morning. 

It's incredible enough that one bank of elevators at the Montgomery County-owned Metropolitan Public Parking Garage 49 in Bethesda have been out of service for over four years. But last night, a reader reports, all elevators were out of commission. No signs were posted explaining the outage. The garage is now fully out of compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act. Two sets of Montgomery County Councilmembers have banned things and raised taxes over these four years, but haven't moved a muscle to restore elevator service and ADA compliance at this garage under their oversight.

Bethesda's Metropolitan Public Parking Garage 49 to switch payment systems January 3

Beginning January 3, 2023, there will be a new payment system inside the Metropolitan Public Parking Garage 49 at 4805 Edgemoor Lane in downtown Bethesda. The Montgomery County Department of Transportation has announced that it will implement a new Pay-by-Plate system of payment that day, replacing the existing cashier system. Garage patrons will enter their tag number into a payment station, or using a downloadable app for a touchless option. Hours of operation will remain the same.

As of yesterday, the new payment stations were in place, but with covers over them. MCDOT has an instructional video online for those who are unfamiliar with Pay-by-Plate systems, which can help you be prepared and save time when you use the new system in Garage 49. Now about those elevators...

Groundhog Day in Bethesda as MoCo Govt. continues to refuse to repair garage elevator outage

It's Groundhog Day in Bethesda, as one of the main elevator banks in the Montgomery County Government-owned parking garage at The Metropolitan remains out of service. The ADA violation has continued since August, as our elected officials continue to thumb their collective noses at taxpayers. Our "leaders" are astonishingly unable to deliver the most-basic functions of government, as anyone who presses the button to summon the elevator here will quickly surmise.

Even as Montgomery County Councilman Evan Glass is proposing more taxes amidst already-record-high County taxation, the County has failed to repair a major elevator bank at its own Bethesda government headquarters for months. If the elevator could talk, I suspect it would say, "I just want to give you your money's worth. You paid top dollar for me." Just more evidence that we need to convert the At-Large seats on the Council to smaller district seats, as currently no councilmember is addressing basic Bethesda issues like this.

A month later, Montgomery County-owned garage elevators still don't work

How many Montgomery County Councilmembers does it take to change a light bulb? We know that all nine together can't get the elevators working in the Metropolitan Public Parking Garage 49 in downtown Bethesda - even with an additional month to work on it. I first reported this service outage on August 21, and the elevators had already been down for a long time at that point. Garage patrons are still being directed to the Old Georgetown elevators a month later.

No action has been taken. The County is not providing a level of basic services appropriate to the record-high tax rates residents are paying. This is also a violation of the Americans With Disabilities Act, as garage users with disabilities are forced to walk to the other side of the building in order to exit the garage. We really do need to drop the At-Large Council seats and create more district seats, as this again proves the Council doesn't bother to come to Bethesda. Heckuva job, Brownie!

Bethesda parking rates, taxes rise - but Garage 49 elevators don't (Photos)

Parking rates in the Metropolitan Public Parking Garage 49 in downtown Bethesda rose to $1 an hour on Monday, and lost tickets will cost you $15. The Montgomery County Council raised your property taxes - yet again - this past May. But despite charging you more, Montgomery County can't manage to fix the elevators in its own garage! 

A blasé sign that notifies garage patrons they'll just have to use the Old Georgetown Road elevators instead has been there long enough for one frustrated taxpayer to scribble, "So when is this going to be fixed already!!" This seems to follow the County's magical thinking that distance is not a factor in parking for those with disabilities, as with their ludicrous fake "solution" for the Bethesda Post Office they approved with no handicapped parking spaces.

Heckuva job, Brownie!

Pay more, for literally less service

Maintenance blocks off sections of Garage 49 in Bethesda

Heads-up if you need to park underneath the Metropolitan in downtown Bethesda near the Metro Center. Maintenance underway in the Metropolitan Public Parking Garage 49 at 4805 Edgemoor Lane is blocking off some sections of parking.