After more than two years of construction, the West Security Checkpoint at Denver International Airport will open for a soft launch with partial screening lanes next Tuesday. The checkpoint will fully open a week later on Tuesday, Feb. 6.
The new checkpoint includes 17 lanes with screening technology that will allow all passengers to keep liquids and electronics in their bags while going through security.
It will serve standard passengers, TSA PreCheck and CLEAR passengers, DEN Reserve passengers and passengers with restricted access like those with accessibility needs, members of the military and employees.
Located on the airport's sixth floor, passengers will be able to get dropped off right outside the new checkpoint on the West side. The checkpoint will operate from 4 a.m. to 7:30 p.m., while the South Checkpoint will continue to operate at all hours.
The new technology includes a number of features aimed at making screening more efficient.
Each checkpoint will have three stations where passengers can put their belongings in bins for screening, rather than having to wait one at a time. The checkpoints will also include the latest facial recognition technology, which means passengers only have to present their ID to the TSA officer. The new technology automatically matches names on IDs with airport passenger lists, so travelers will not need to present a boarding pass at West security.
DIA has already rolled out this technology elsewhere in the airport last year. Passengers can still opt out of facial recognition screening upon request, but airport officials said most people opt for new technology.
According to TSA spokesperson Lorie Dankers, the new checkpoint will screen between 180 to 200 passengers per lane per hour once fully operational. For comparison, DIA's South checkpoint currently screens between 130 and 150 people per lane per hour.
Once the new West Checkpoint is fully operational, the airport will fully close the North Security Checkpoint.
That closure will allow workers to continue construction on what will become the East Security Checkpoint. That checkpoint is set to open in late 2025.
Having one fewer checkpoint could mean passenger will face long lines at times. But Dankers said that TSA is currently fully staffed up at DIA, which airport officials regularly said was one of the drivers behind long security lines in the past.
"It's a big win for us," Dankers said. "In every step of this checkpoint, we made sure that we were able to work with the airport to have the latest technologies, to make sure that when it came to options we found the one that was the most efficient, that worked for our employees, worked for the travelers and worked for the airport, and they made significant investments in our operation. And for that we're extremely grateful."
The ongoing construction is part of the massive Great Hall construction project, which is rebuilding security and revamping ticketing areas and the airport entryway to accommodate the airport's fast growing traffic. The airport first began the project in 2017, but parted ways with the initial contractor in 2019 at a cost of $184 million over a series of controversies, delays and cost overruns.
Airport officials now say the project is on-time and within budget with the new contractor, who is set to finish the $1.3 billion renovations in 2027.
