Fort Lauderdale Mayor Dean J. Trantalis announced that The Boring Company (TBC) has submitted a proposal to build an underground transit system in the city.
“Fort Lauderdale has received a proposal from Elon Musk’s The Boring Co. to build an underground transit loop between downtown and the beach. Called ‘The Las Olas Loop,’ this represents an innovative and unprecedented approach to addressing traffic congestion and transit needs,” tweeted the Mayor.
Since the beginning of the year, Mayor Trantalis has communicated with The Boring Company for a potential project in New River. The Fort Lauderdale mayor visited TBC’s Las Vegas Convention Center Loop (LVCC) in February, a trip that Trantalis called “very productive.” The mayor noted that he came home with many ideas about tunneling solutions to resolve traffic congestion.
So far, Elon Musk’s Boring Company has successfully completed at least two Loops: the LVCC Loop in Las Vegas and the R&D Tunnel in Hawthorne, California. TBC kicked off LVCC Loop operations in June for the World of Concrete Convention. Videos take during the convention showed that attendees were generally enjoying the underground transport system.
The Boring Company estimated that a tunnel in downtown Fort Lauderdale would come between $30 million to $60 million to construct. In comparison, the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) proposed building a 55-foot high-bridge with an estimated cost of $445 million.
The Las Olas Loop that TBC recently proposed to Fort Lauderdale may be a bigger project than the original tunnel Trantalis wanted to be built in New River.