Tesla Motors and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk has won approval from the Hawthorne City Council to construct a two-mile underground test tunnel for his Boring Company. The City Council voted four to one in favor of the tunnel’s construction, giving Musk the green light to turn his vision of a new transportation system into a reality.
So, how will this tunnel work? The Boring Company is another brainchild of Must. And as the name suggests, it centers around “boring” tunnels deep under the Earth’s surface to use as a transportation network. Musk’s vision is ultimately to create a cross-country tunnel system through which people and cargo can travel at speeds of 600 miles per hour. Like his vision of manned missions to Mars, however, we’re still a ways off from this happening. However, receiving approval from the Hawthorne City Council to construct a two-mile test underground is the first step towards making this a reality.
According to TheVerge, the new test tunnel will extend two miles at a depth of 44 feet under public roads. Of course, this isn’t the first time that the Boring Company has constructed test tunnels; it’s been building them for well over a year. Up until now, however, the Boring Company has been restricted to building such tunnels on its own property. This recent green light from the Hawthorne City Council expands the Boring Company’s freedom by allowing it to build the two-mile test tunnel under the
It’s no secret that traffic congestion is on the rise. According to a report by ABC News, commuters in Washington D.C. spend roughly 82 hours stuck in traffic every year. Musk hopes to solve the country’s traffic problem by building a hyperloop network of tunnels. While roads are generally limited to a two-dimensional place — with the exception of costly bridges — a hyperloop network would a more expansive amount of space by allowing for multiple layers.
“To solve the problem of soul-destroying traffic, roads must go 3D, which means either flying cars or tunnels. Unlike flying cars, tunnels are weatherproof, out of sight and won’t fall on your head. A large network of tunnels many levels deep would fix congestion in any city, no matter how large it grew (just keep adding levels),” wrote the Boring Company on its official company website.
There’s no word yet on when exactly the Boring Company’s two-mile test tunnel will be complete. However, Musk has already tweeted a photo of a Model S inside the partially completed tunnel.
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