Elon Musk’s Proposed Vegas Strip Transit System Advanced by
City Council Vote
Musk’s Boring Co. wants to lay miles of tunnels underneath
Las Vegas.
By Sarah McBride
December 16, 2020, 8:03 PM GMT Updated on December 16, 2020,
8:50 PM GMT
Elon Musk’s tunneling company Boring Co. is already building
a transit system for Las Vegas convention-goers. Now, he wants to build one for
the rest of the city.
On Wednesday, the Las Vegas City Council voted unanimously
to advance plans to dramatically expand Musk’s Loop project from a convention
center transit system to a citywide network that would include hotels and, one
day, potentially even the airport.
The proposed expansion brings the tunnel-based
transportation system as far north as Ogden Avenue, near attractions such as
the Downtown Container Park and classic casinos like the Golden Nugget.
Proposed stops en route include the Arts District and the Stratosphere tower,
the spaceship-like landmark that is part of a hotel. The precise location of
stations will be determined later in the process, according to documents
submitted to the council.
"Zero public dollars would be going into this
system," said Steve Davis, Boring Co.'s president, who addressed the city
council with a blue medical mask tugged down around his chin. Davis added that
about half the company’s employees were now working in Las Vegas.
Wednesday's vote was a crucial first step in Boring Co.'s
Las Vegas tunnel expansion. The next step is a more detailed city staff review
of the plans for the Loop, which whisks passengers underground using Tesla
vehicles. The company would also need to return to the city council for
approval of a franchise agreement—the ability to use a right-of-way
corridor—before construction could actually begin.
The cost of the main portion of the tunnel that falls within
city limits is estimated at $35 million to $45 million, according to the
documents. Officials at the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority, which
originally brought the project to the city, have said that Boring Co. will
cover the cost of building the main artery of the Loop. Hotels that want Loop
stations will be responsible for paying those costs, a spokeswoman for the
agency said.
relates to Elon Musk’s Proposed Vegas Strip Transit System
Advanced by City Council Vote
Conceptual rendering of the Boring Co. subsurface
station.Source: Las Vegas City Council
Boring Co. also has big plans for areas that sit outside of
the boundary of the city of Las Vegas, but include well-trafficked destinations
such as the bulk of the Las Vegas Strip, Allegiant Stadium and possibly
McCarran International Airport, if authorities there agree.
Those plans, which include two separate routes, need
approval by Clark County, whose commissioners will review the company’s
applications in February.
Earlier this year, Boring Co. completed tunnels under the
Las Vegas Convention Center complex. Originally, the convention center project
was set to debut in time for CES, the annual consumer electronics show, but
that event will now take place virtually due to the coronavirus pandemic.
The county commission in August approved plans from two
hotels, the Wynn Las Vegas and Resorts World Las Vegas, to use Boring Co.
tunnels to connect their properties to the convention center Loop.
If approved to its full proposed length, the Vegas Loop will run for about 15 miles, about 10 miles in Clark County and 5 miles in the City of Las Vegas, according to city spokesman David Riggleman.
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