There could be good news for Bethesda drivers tired of dodging car-carrying trucks often taking up an entire lane of Arlington Road.
Euro Motorcars Bethesda, the Mercedes dealership where those cars are being dropped off, is exploring a redevelopment project that would bring a new “internal road” to the site — putting an end to the daytime deliveries that are a nuisance for some.
Architect Jon Penney presented an early version of the idea on Wednesday during the Planning Department’s online property owner forum.
Euro Motorcars Bethesda (7020 Arlington Rd.) would keep its existing three-story garage that borders the Bradley Boulevard Shopping Center. Essentially, the rest of the property — a showroom, service customer drop-off and two small surface parking lots — would be consolidated and divided by an east-to-west road where customers could wait and where those car carriers could stop.
Penney said getting the car carriers off Arlington Road was one of the reasons Euro Motorcars is exploring redevelopment. It’s also possible the redevelopment could provide space for a new dealership franchise or a multi-story residential project.
The project would eliminate three curb cuts along the property’s frontage on Bethesda Avenue and provide a new underground parking garage.
Penney didn’t specify how aggressively Euro Motorcars is pursuing the idea, and he didn’t say if the dealership was asking for new zoning from the ongoing rewrite downtown Bethesda’s sector plan.
Images via Montgomery County Planning Department
