North Bethesda station serves commercial and residential areas of North Bethesda and Rockville. The station entrance is located immediately adjacent to the headquarters of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. The large Pike & Rosemixed-use development sits one block north of the station. The former site of its original "White Flint" namesake, White Flint Mall, is located about 4⁄10-mile (0.64 km) southeast of the station and was shuttered in 2015.
Transit-oriented development
North Bethesda station is at the center of the Pike District (formerly White Flint) planning area which was the subject of two sector plans (in 2010 and 2018) that were intended to generate dense, transit-oriented development. The sector plans prescribed new zoning to allow taller buildings to be built closer to the Metro station along with a new street grid to link disjointed areas.[2]
History
The station opened on December 15, 1984[3] as part of a 7-mile (11 km), four-station northwestern extension of the Red Line[4] between Grosvenor–Strathmore and Shady Grove stations.[3] White Flint was originally known as Nicholson Lane in planning documents,[5] but the station was renamed after the White Flint Mall before it opened. A pylon at Farragut North still bears the original name of the station; extensions were originally printed on pylons throughout the system and covered up until they opened.[6]
On December 9, 2021, the Metro board voted to change the name of the station from White Flint to North Bethesda. The new name was added to Metro system maps when the second phase of the Silver Line opened on November 15, 2022.[7] In June 2022, signage in the station began to be modified to reflect the name change.[8] The new name change became official on September 11, 2022.[9]
Station layout
North Bethesda station has an island platform located just below street level in an open cut, which leads to a tunnel on either side of the station. Access to the station is provided at ground level at the northeast corner of Rockville Pike and Marinelli Road, with a Metro-style underpass providing access to the northwest corner of the intersection. A parking garage is located east of the station on Marinelli Road.
^Johnson, Janis (September 28, 1978). "Metro in Montgomery: Plans Are Unveiled for Preserving Old Neighborhoods and Creating New Development Near Metro". The Washington Post. p. MD1. ProQuest146865517.
