Construction on a new Army and Air Force Exchange at Fort Meade will begin this summer, and installation officials are seeking ways to mitigate parking problems that could result.

The base newspaper Soundoff! reported that construction work could take away as many as 600 parking spaces from the existing exchange while the new facility is being built.

The post exchange, commonly called the PX, is the chief place to shop for essentials on post. The new PX will be about 167,000 square feet in size, or 30,000 square feet larger than the current facility. It will have more services, including a pharmacy, a larger food court and more food vendors, according to base officials.

Fort Meade is looking to find between 300 and 350 parking spaces in nearby areas. Construction of the new PX is expected to take about two years.

"Parking is a significant issue," Bert Rice, Fort Meade's director of transformation, told Soundoff! "For the customer, you have to think about having that reasonably available to the current store during the entire construction phase."

Officials said they hope to have the parking solution in place before construction work begins in July.