Fort Lauderdale Approves Elon Musk's Company Proposal for Beach Tunnel

(Photo : Christophe Gateau/picture alliance via Getty Images)
Tesla boss visits factory construction site in Grünheide
dpatop - 17 May 2021, Brandenburg, Grünheide: Elon Musk, Tesla CEO, stands on the construction site of the Tesla factory holding his hard hat. He has taken a look at the progress of construction of the new factory in Grünheide near Berlin, which will probably start production several months later than originally planned. The 49-year-old did not initially comment on Monday. Photo: Christophe Gateau/dpa

Elon Musk is working his way to Fort Lauderdale's beach. Musk's Boring Co., proposed a plan to local lawmakers on Tuesday to create an underground transit system that would transport passengers in Teslas from the city's downtown area to the beach.

The project is dubbed as "The Las Olas Loop" after the city's famous beachfront avenue of the same name. Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk established The Boring Company, which developed a comparable subterranean loop in Las Vegas that shuttles Tesla drivers among three stations through two one-way tunnels.

Boring Co.'s beach tunnel proposal accepted

In a press release issued last week, local authorities stated that "Fort Lauderdale would be the first city on the East Coast - and only the second city in the world - to benefit from The Boring Co.'s technology." The city of Fort Lauderdale declined to comment on the plan's specifics, citing the ongoing bidding process.

In a tweet, Mayor Dean Trantalis (D) said the city has formally approved The Boring Company's plan to create the underground transit system between downtown and the beach. According to the mayor, other businesses will now have 45 days to submit competing offers.

Fort Lauderdale formally accepted tonight a proposal from @elonmusk's @boringcompany to build an underground transit system between downtown and the beach. Other firms have 45 days to submit competing proposals. This could be a truly innovative way to reduce traffic congestion. pic.twitter.com/R7Bh2NPVnl
— Mayor Dean J. Trantalis (@DeanTrantalis) July 7, 2021

In a subsequent tweet, Trantalis stated that a tunnel connecting downtown and the beach dubbed as "The Las Olas Loop" would be an "innovative and unprecedented approach to addressing traffic congestion and transit needs in 21st Century America." The Boring Company officials assured the city that they can finish the project for $10 million to $12 million each mile, totaling $60 million to $72 million.

#FortLauderdale is beginning to explore the construction of an underground transit line between downtown and the beach to ease street-level congestion. #infrastructure 1/ pic.twitter.com/kCGTLIju6K
— Mayor Dean J. Trantalis (@DeanTrantalis) July 6, 2021

The Boring Company's proposal was accepted after the company's first operational tunnel opened last month in Las Vegas. According to ABC News, the Las Vegas Convention Center Loop connects the convention center's new exhibit hall with the old campus with over 1.7 miles of tunnel and three stops. The network added that the construction cost around $47 million and took a year to complete. The 45-minute cross-campus walk was reduced to a two-minute ride, the firm claims.

Concern sparks that proposal may turn into another epic fail tunnel

Per Daily Mail, locals were less enthusiastic about the announcement; but they also feared that the multimillion-dollar project would be a flop following Musk's less-than-impressive tunnels in LA and Vegas. He pledged a super-fast, automated driving system in both cities that would eliminate gridlock and allow commuters to go to work in record time. Instead, both remain basic tunnels with flashing colorful lights that are traveled at regular speeds by regular automobiles.

On Tuesday, residents of Fort Lauderdale decided to join billionaire and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk's goal for quicker underground transit. Trantalis and the city had approached the Boring Company in January in the hopes of finding a more efficient method to transfer train traffic north and south. Trantalis was looking for alternatives to other proposals in the works to build a high-rise commuter rail bridge across the New River from Miami to West Palm Beach, which would add 40 extra trains per day to the lines.

Boring Company officials pitched the underground transport loop to offer faster and more efficient connectivity between downtown and the beach as well as reduce street-level traffic.

The Verge reports that the Boring Company has suggested a $30 million loop system in Miami, in addition to Fort Lauderdale. Previous plans for a Chicago loop and a 35-mile Washington, DC-to-Baltimore tunnel appear to have been canceled. The DC-to-Baltimore project has been completely removed from the company's website.

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