BWI Marshall airport is getting larger restrooms, and it needs them.

The Maryland Board of Public Works has approved a $54.9 million contract to expand public restrooms. Specifically, the contract calls for six sets of restrooms in Concourses B, C and D.

The contract will be the first phase of a program to expand and improve all restroom facilities at the airport, many of which it says have exceeded their design life.

Some restrooms, particularly in Concourses A and B, were designed to accommodate 30% fewer passengers than current demand, BWI said.

A recent Concourse A extension has already added new restrooms in that area, and will serve as the design standard for other older restrooms facility improvements. (Those restrooms have stalls with red and green lights to indicate whether they are vacant or occupied.)

The width of the airport concourses will be expanded to accommodate larger restrooms, which will include full height stall doors and space for stowing roller bags.

BWI recently expanded concessions as part of its 55,000-square-foot, $48 million five-gate extension to Concourse A.

BWI Marshall remains the busiest of the three airports in the D.C. region. It has recovered faster than Dulles and Reagan National, largely because of its focus on more leisure travel.

In July, the most recent month for which full traffic data is available BWI’s total passenger traffic was 1.99 million, an increase of 115% compared to July 2020. Based on TSA data, which counts only departing passengers, departures at BWI in September were up 112% from a year earlier.