Downtown to Nashville airport in just 8 minutes? Elon Musk's Boring Company unveils tunnel plans

Economic Times

3 days ago

Elon Musk's The Boring Company has announced plans to build a 10-mile underground loop in Nashville in coordination with Tennessee Republican Governor Bill Lee. It's called the Music City Loop. The governor's office said that the Nashville project would come 'at zero cost to taxpayers' and would be 'entirely privately funded".
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Tech billionaire Elon Musk 's ' The Boring Company ' is gearing up to bring its underground tunnel network to Nashville, according to US media reports. The underground freight tunnel will use Tesla vehicles to transport people from the city's downtown to Nashville International Airport in around eight minutes, according to a report in Ladbible.Using land beneath state-owned roads, Musk's Boring Company initially would dig a 10-mile tunnel from the Music City Center to the airport on the city's southeast side using. All-electric vehicles would be used to carry riders on an eight-minute transit. Tennessee leaders have extended support to Elon Musk's plan to an underground tunnel dubbed the 'Music City Loop' from downtown Nashville to burgeoning Nashville International Airport.The announcement comes after The Boring Company implemented its first underground Tesla tunnel in Las Vegas in 2021, delivering people to the Las Vegas Convention Center (LVCC). More recently, the emission-free tunnels have been extended to connect nearby resorts with the LVCC.The construction on the Nashville tunnels will start 'immediately,' The Boring Company said. But the company's president Steve Davis said it won't be easy. "Tough place to tunnel. If we were optimising for easiest places to tunnel, it would not be here," he said."You have extremely hard rock, like, way harder than it should be, but it's an engineering problem that's fairly straightforward to solve.'The construction of the tunnel is expected to be completed in two years' time, although previous projects have experienced significant delays. Tennessee Governor Bill Lee announced The Boring Company's intent to build the Music City Loop , a transformative private transportation project that will bring the company's innovative underground Loop system to Nashville at zero cost to taxpayers, marking a bold step forward in advancing mobility, economic growth, and infrastructure modernization across the region," an official statement read.The Music City Loop will remove thousands of vehicles from surface roads each day, easing traffic congestion while creating numerous job opportunities for Tennesseans, the press release said. The Loop system will also extend the lifespan of Tennessee's roads, reduce emissions, and offer a safe, fast, and reliable travel option—particularly during major events and Nashville's peak convention and seasonal travel.However, the plan to construct underground tunnel has received backlash from other politicians, with Nashville Democratic representative Justin Jones claiming he was 'denied entry' from the announcement, despite Republicans being allowed to attend."This project, which requires state approval, is yet another attempt by Bill Lee and his corporate donors to enrich themselves while neglecting public services and real infrastructure needs, of working class people who commute downtown for work at bars, hotels and restaurants," he said in a statement on Instagram."Musk's Boring Company has been known to violate workplace safety laws and damage water quality, which is why other cities have refused or rejected his Tesla Tunnels, and why they are afraid of being questioned. "Democratic lawmakers in Nashville are demanding answers on the plans, while the state's Republican leaders have jumped at the chance to partner with Musk. A state commission is holding an emergency meeting and public hearing Thursday morning to discuss a 'no cost/mutual benefit' lease arrangement that's been proposed to help the company get the tunnels started, reported CNBC.The Boring Company was founded by Musk in 2017 with a vision to tackle urban traffic by shifting transportation beneath city streets. The idea centers on building efficient, cost-effective tunnels that support high-speed travel, reducing pressure on surface roads.In 2022, it secured $675 million in Series C funding, bringing its estimated valuation to approximately $5.7 billion and signaling strong investor confidence in its long-term potential.