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Elon Musk’s Las Vegas underground loop gets the green light

Boring Company's CEO says he'll finish it by "end of year."

Marrian Zhou Staff Reporter
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Elon Musk's Boring Company gets Las Vegas approval to build and operate a high-speed underground loop in the city. 

LVCVA

Las Vegas will official get a tunnel from Elon Musk , perhaps within this year.

The billionaire's Boring Company on Tuesday got the approval from the 14-member board of the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority (LVCVA) to build and operate an underground loop that would carry people in autonomous electric vehicles at the city's convention center.

Musk has responded to the approval in a tweet, saying he'll make the tunnel "operational by end of year," even though the convention center's expansion won't be done until 2021, according to LVCVA's release.

The Boring Company didn't immediately respond for comment. A LVCVA spokeswoman said in an email that the underground loop will be ready in 2021 if the contract with the Boring company is approved at LVCVA's board meeting on June 11. 

LVCVA last week recommended the Boring Company to construct the tunnels as the convention center goes through an expansion, which will make it span 200 acres in 2021, just in time for CES . The project will potentially connect downtown Las Vegas, the convention center, the Las Vegas Boulevard Resort Corridor, McCarran International Airport and more.

"Las Vegas has maintained its reputation as a leading travel destination because we are driven by innovation and hospitality," Steve Hill, CEO and president of LVCVA, said in a release. "This project is an example of how our leading principles can create an experience benefitting our community and valued visitors."

The Boring Company was selected by an LVCVA evaluation team following a request for proposals last year. LVCVA estimates the loop system cost to be between $35 and $55 million, according to LVCVA's release.

"Las Vegas is a high-energy, high-technology destination equipped to welcome the world, and we are excited to deliver a system that will help visitors efficiently navigate the city's many offerings," Boring President Steve Davis said in the release.

Musk's Boring Company is all about high-speed underground tubes. Two years ago, he said he was going to build a tunneling machine to take transport subterranean. Then, in December, Musk officially opened the first Boring Company test tunnel under SpaceX headquarters in Hawthorne, California. Musk wants to build a tunnel from the western neighborhoods to Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles, and a 35-mile line of twin tunnels from Washington, DC, to Maryland.

The Boring Company has also landed a contract with the Chicago Infrastructure Trust to build the express loop system to Chicago's O'Hare International Airport. 

First published on March 12, 3:05 p.m. PT.

Updates on March 13, 7:05 a.m. PT: Adds statement from LVCVA spokeswoman.