The Federal Aviation Administration awarded Denver International Airport a $26.6 million grant last week to help modernize its baggage system.

The money comes from President Joe Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, where the FAA has allocated nearly $1 billion this year to improve more than 114 airports across the U.S.

DIA has gotten nearly $124 million from the federal program so far.

The Denver airport will use the grant toward the Baggage Handling System Modernization project meant to increase capacity and have better energy efficiency.

Last year, DIA saw an all-time record of nearly 78 million passengers and could see 100 million travelers by 2027. That milestone is coming five years sooner than originally expected, said the airport’s CEO Phil Washington in a press conference Friday. Officials need to upgrade its baggage equipment that’s been around since the airport opened to accommodate that growth. 

“Our baggage system is like a Frankenstein system where we have patched it over the years,” Washington said. 

The modernization of the baggage system will help reduce maintenance costs and improve operations, according to a news release. The project will take several years and is currently in the design phase. Construction is set to start later in the year.

“The infrastructure that we have in place right now was never designed for the volume,” Washington said. The airport was built to accommodate 50 million passengers a year, he added, and it’s well past that.

“We’re grateful for strong support from our congressional leaders for this grant that will ensure our baggage system brings efficiency and reliability to passengers, especially as we see more flights than ever come in and out of DEN,” Mayor Mike Johnston said in a statement when the grant was announced.

Biden’s chief economist Heather Boushey visited Denver on Friday to talk about the federal grants with Denver airport officials. 

The investments not only create jobs but help the local and national economy better function, Boushey said.

“Investing in infrastructure all across the country — everything from all the roads to all the airports, to broadband, to safe drinking water — all of these are so important because they are the foundation of economic growth,” Boushey said.