Musk on cusp of Florida tunnel contract award
1 September 2021Elon Musk’s Boring Company is in prime position to be awarded a contract to build twin tunnels in Fort Lauderdale, US, following the passing of a deadline which saw two other proposals fail to meet Florida PPP requirements.
The proposed twin tunnels of the Las Olas Loop would link the downtown area to the coast, a distance of around 4km, allowing beachgoers to bypass existing gridlocked roads. Passengers would ride in a Tesla (Musk’s astonishingly successful brand of electric vehicle) which, as automated technologies improve, would eventually become driverless.
This is The Boring Company’s first commercial project outside of Las Vegas and Nevada, and one which will present its engineers with new challenges, including tunnelling an underwater section of the alignment.
Musk is now in prime position to seek an interim or full agreement with Fort Lauderdale officials, including the consideration of engineering and technical aspects. Although city commissioners must first decide whether to proceed with the project, the omens must be good.
Fort Lauderdale's Mayor Dean J Trantalis recently tweeted that The Boring Company’s proposals represented “an innovative and unprecedented approach to addressing traffic congestion and transit needs.”
