Tennessee cities among finalists in contest for mile-long Boring Company tunnel
Three Tennessee cities are among 16 finalists competing to be selected by The Boring Company for a mile-long tunnel to be built with company money.
The company announced its Tunnel Vision Challenge in January, calling for proposals for tunnels that would solve the problems. The Boring Company will choose the winner and build the tunnel “for free.” website.
Tunnel applications could be for freight, pedestrian, water, utilities or just the Loop, a transportation tunnel used by Tesla vehicles to carry passengers for a fee.
The company received 487 applications and will announce the winner on March 23. Publish on account.
Boring Company and X are owned by billionaire Elon Musk, who is also Tesla’s largest shareholder.
Tennessee finalists include Vol Loop, a proposed Loop project in Knoxville; Mountain Mile Loop, a proposed Loop project in Gatlinburg; and a proposed service tunnel in Hendersonville.
The announcement of the finalists comes as The Boring Company begins drilling on the Music City Loop, one of its newest projects near the state capital in Nashville.
The company’s website states that entries in the Tunnel Vision Challenge will be evaluated in terms of usefulness, community and stakeholder support, and technical, economic and regulatory feasibility. Participants were asked to submit data to support the anticipated benefits and to list land and right-of-way owners along the proposed routes.
The website notes that the company may cancel or modify the contest at its sole discretion, including modifying the contest to select multiple winners or no winners at all.
Other finalists include:
-
Ketchikan Airport Link, a Loop tunnel in Ketchikan, Alaska
-
Fort Smith Tunnel, a service tunnel in Fort Smith, Arkansas
-
Ball Arena Tunnel, a pedestrian tunnel in Denver, Colorado
-
Kansas City Chiefs Tunnel, a pedestrian tunnel in Kansas City, Kansas
-
NOLA Loop, a Loop tunnel in New Orleans, Louisiana
-
Ravens Loop, a Loop tunnel in Baltimore, Maryland
-
Buffalo Bills Tunnel, a pedestrian tunnel in Orchard Park, New York
-
Canal Underline, a pedestrian tunnel in Panama City, Panama
-
Bastrop Pedestrian Tunnel in Bastrop, Texas
-
Magnolia Loop, a Loop tunnel in Waco, Texas
-
Morgan’s Wonderland Tunnel, a pedestrian tunnel in San Antonio, Texas
-
University Hills Loop, a Loop tunnel in Dallas, Texas
-
Woodlands Loop, a Loop tunnel in The Woodlands, Texas
Bastrop, a town near Austin, is home to several Musk companies, including The Boring Company, X, SpaceX and Starlink.
Music City Loop
Boring Company announces plans Music City Loop In partnership with state authorities in 2025. The project includes a 9.5-mile tunnel from the state capital to Nashville International Airport and another approximately 3-mile line connecting the West End to Midtown along Broadway.
The tunnels are expected to take at least two years to complete.
While The Boring Company has received support from Governor Bill Lee and some state lawmakers, the Nashville community has been more skeptical.
Several Metro Nashville Council members and community members spoke out against the project at public meetings in February and early March. The routes would be built along state-owned roads, allowing the company to obtain construction permits from the state’s transportation department while avoiding Metro Nashville regulations.
The Boring Company is paying for the tunnel’s construction as a “long-term investment” that will be repaid with passenger fares, Vice Mayor David Buss said at a community meeting Monday near Nashville’s Bordeaux neighborhood. The state gave the project a free lease to start construction on a state-owned parking lot near the capital and does not charge the company fees for tunneling under state roads.
State lawmakers are considering a bill that would create the Underground Transportation Infrastructure Coordinating Authority. $5 million from government fundingAn 11-member board and a staff of 20 are responsible for authorizing such projects and setting regulations. MPs are also considering this issue invoice This would result in property taxes being diverted from The Boring Company and other underground transit companies to the state auditor’s office, meaning the revenue would not be collected by Davidson County.
Boring Company, founded by Musk in 2017, proposed more than a dozen Loop projects similar to the Nashville tunnel, but 10 of them failed to materialize. Boring broke ground on the Las Vegas Loop, an estimated 68-mile-long tunnel, in 2020 and has completed about four miles. In February, the company started construction of a Loop in Dubai.
Las Vegas project is shaken by allegations environmental and safety violations and Boring challenged Occupational Safety and Health Administration fines, including fines for firefighters who reportedly suffered chemical burns during a rescue training exercise. Nevada OSHA reduced the penalties For this event in November.
