Elon Musk is pushing to build a massive 6.2-mile underground tunnel to ferry Tesla vehicles and their passengers in the traffic-clogged area of North Miami Beach.
Musk’s Boring Company are currently considering the Hard Rock Stadium and Florida International University’s Biscayne campus as hosts for the proposed transit tunnel, which will run underneath Miami-Dade, according to the Miami Herald.
The tunnel, which would initially see Tesla vehicles carrying as many as 7,500 passengers per hour with an eventualy goal of as many as 15,000 per hour, would have drivers passing underneath State Road 826 East from Northwest 2nd Avenue to Northeast 35th Avenue.
The ‘rough’ estimated cost for the project sits at between $180 million and $220 million, and is expected to be completed in a 36-month construction time frame, according to Boring.
A loop to Hard Rock would stretch three additional miles, while the FIU-Biscayne spur would run about 1.8 miles.
Pictured: an example of The Boring Company’s transit tunnels, which would allow for Tesla vehicles and their passengers to be ferried with ease in traffic-clogged areas
The Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority Board of Directors approved a contract with The Boring Company to design and construct a twin-tunnel Loop system for the Las Vegas Convention Center
Tesla electric cars are lined up in front of two one-way tunnels built by Elon Musk’s The Boring Company at the Las Vegas Convention Center, Nevada, US, April 2021
Traffic slows down to a 10 mph crawl along State Route 7 in downtown Fort Lauderdale, Florida
Elon Musk gestures as he speaks during a press conference at SpaceX’s Starbase facility near Boca Chica Village in South Texas
The idea, which is also being considered in Fort Lauderdale and Miami, is designed to tackle traffic and gridlock issues.
Critics of the plan only have to look as far as Las Vegas, where Musk’s Vegas Loop – a 1.7-mile track for manual driven Teslas to drive beneath the city’s convention center at top speeds of 40 miles per hour – where users have expressed concerns over getting stuck in the tunnel and other safety issues.
A viral video of a traffic jam forming within a tunnel during last month’s 2022 CES consumer electronics trade shows that Musk’s system is far from immune to the issue of gridlock.
‘The Vegas Loop can’t even deal with #CES2022 during a pandemic,’ tech blogger Sascha Pallenberg tweeted on Thursday.
‘Congratulations @CityOfLasVegas this must be the most advanced traffic jam in the world!’
Musk’s tunneling company submitted the proposal earlier this month on February 1 for North Miami Beach, making it the second of two after Fort Lauderdale’s plans were submitted in June.
Not everyone is a fan of the concept, however, with Miami Mayor Francis Suarez favoring an expanded transit system.
Meanwhile, North Miami Beach Commissioner Michael Joseph says the project would both alleviate traffic congestion while serving as a tourist attraction for the city in the process.
‘Why not us?’ he said, having recently toured the Vegas Loop, calling it ‘cutting edge.’
‘We have a lot of development coming, we want to plan ahead. We know development is coming from all over the place.’
The next step in the process is to submit an interim agreement before city officials on March 15, according to city manager Chris Lagerbloom.
Elon Musk arrives in a modified Tesla Model X electric vehicle during an unveiling event for The Boring Company Hawthorne test tunnel December 18, 2018 in Hawthorne, California
Elon Musk shows off first renders of Boring Company’s Las Vegas loop station where passengers will board high-speed driverless Teslas
Pictured: Musks’ 1.7-mile Vegas Loop allows for human-driven Teslas to cruise beneath the city’s convention center at speeds topping out at 40 miles per hour
Pictured: the proposed location for the Fort Lauderdale tunnel
‘It is a very real project,’ Lagerbloom added.
The details regarding the projects funding and feasibility are reportedly still being discussed.
Joseph said city officials are currently in the process of working to determine potential funding sources to build the underground tunnel.
He noted a substantial portion could come from money included in federal infrastructure legislation just signed into law by President Joseph R. Biden, with state funding likely also contributing to the project.
‘We know they’re looking to put money behind communities that do not traditionally receive infrastructure funding,’ Joseph said. ‘And we’re a majority-minority community.’
‘Engineers have looked at it, and I’ve talked to more subterranean engineers than I ever would have before,’ Lagerbloom said of the tunnel’s feasibility..
‘Subterranean tunneling has been accepted around the world as a very doable solution for vehicles, trains, any mode of transit. The fact that we’re in South Florida doesn’t have any impact on whether we can tunnel. It mainly has to do with what method, and some polymers used to keep water out. But as far as whether it’s possible: It’s very possible.’
