While are being waged over airport security lines, efforts continue to rollforward on themassive overhaul of Denver International Airport’s terminal and the creationof a screening system meant to be a “model for the U.S.,” airport officials say.
DIA officials are reviewingthree proposals for the airport’s planned Jeppesen Terminal redevelopment, which could include adding more shops and restaurants tothe Great Hall and movingsecurity checkpoints to the floor above. City Council members could have their say come August, and work could begin as early as next summer, airport spokeswoman Stacey Stegman said.
“We are looking to provide a better experience at Denver, at the screening process,” Stegman said. “And we also want to help and partner with (the Transportation Security Administration) to become a model for the U.S. for a new checkpoint experience. We just don’t know what that is yet.”
The three teams that submitted proposals are led by , an operator offour airports in the United Kingdom, including Heathrow Airport; , an Australian shopping center developer; and,a U.K.-owned airport operator,and ,a Los Angeles-based public infrastructure developer that just completed the overhaul of U.S. 36 between Boulder and Denver. Its subsidiary .
The areas include about half of the815,000-square-footGreat Hall, on levels 5 and 6, according to the issued last year. The bidders also couldusean additional 400,000 square feet of space, including an area near the new hotel transit center that could accommodate 18 more security lines, although the total number of security lines post-redevelopment will be determined through the proposal process, she said.
The redevelopment also could include improvements to operations such as baggage handling, she said.
DIA’s work with the TSA includes researchingscreening systems utilized in airports worldwide, determining best practices and incorporating elements such as PreCheck and canines to improve efficiency, Stegmansaid.
“It’s not simply a matter of capacity,” she said.
Capacity appeared to be a sticking pointto the TSA, which warning of“extremely high passenger” volume at DIA through Friday.The projected volume — of 57,000 to 63,500 people through the checkpoints — would require 37 security screening lanes, seven more than what DIA currently offers, according to the bulletin.
TSA officials did not return requests foradditional comment.
Security-line activity at the airport Sunday and Monday was smooth, and nothing out of the ordinary was reported, saidHeath Montgomery, a DIA spokesman.
“We did not have any lines creep out of the queue,” he said. “We have such an open layout that the lines look very daunting. The majority of the time, even though you may be at the back of a seemingly daunting line, the chances are you’re going to get through relatively quickly.”
The airport is and is taking additional measures to assist TSA with the screening process, he said.
This includes adding seven contract workers to assist with bin-running, line management and “divesting,” or helping passengers prepare for the impending screening, he said.Coincidentally, those workers started Sunday, Montgomery said.
DIA expects to spend$100,000 for the additional contract employees, who will work through Aug. 20, Stegman said.
