North Drive Open for Outbound Traffic on Weekday Afternoons & Evenings Starting April 11
Beginning Monday, April 11, North Drive (near the MLP-10 Parking Garage, behind Buildings 31 and 33) will open for outbound traffic only from 3pm – 7pm on weekdays. The exit is right turn only, southbound on Rockville Pike. The inbound traffic hours of operation remain weekdays, 6am – 10am.
North Drive could be a useful alternate exit for those commuting to the Beltway via Jones Bridge Road and Connecticut Avenue, or if you live in the southern part of Montgomery County or NW Washington, DC.
The opening of North Drive to exiting traffic is part of the NIH Building for All campaign
(https://buildingforall.nih.gov), a joint effort of the Office of Research Services and the Office of Research Facilities to address traffic and parking issues associated with major construction projects on the northwest portion of the Bethesda campus. To date, these mitigation strategies also include:
* Expansion/Intersection improvements at Lincoln Drive/Old Georgetown Road
* Addition of Express Shuttle from Lots 41 & 42 to Building 10
* Changes to the MLP-9/ACRF (P-2/P-3) parking garages
* Converting Lot 4A to valet parking
The Building for All campaign was launched in response to major construction projects on the northwest portion of the Bethesda campus beginning in early to mid-2022, including a:
* 5-story addition to the Vaccine Research Center
* New MLP-14 Patient/Patient Visitor Parking Garage and Utility Vault
* 9-story Surgery, Radiology and Laboratory Medicine (SRLM) wing of the hospital.
The NIH recognizes and appreciates the considerable adjustments staff are making as we undertake these major, critical improvements to our research capabilities, patient experience and hospital operations. Mitigation strategies aimed at reducing congestion and distributing parking were based on expert traffic modeling and other data-based decision-making.
Additional information about upcoming changes, including suggestions on where to park and enter campus based on where you live and work and the most up-to-date information to the NIH campus related to parking, traffic and associated construction are available at the NIH Traffic website:
https://traffic.nih.gov.