Elon Musk told the mayor of Miami on Friday that The Boring Company could dig a two-mile tunnel under the city for just $ 30 million – a fraction of the $ 1 billion price once quoted by local transit authorities. . Musk also told the mayor that The Boring Company could complete the job in six months, against the original estimate of four years.
Mayor Francis Suarez shared these details about his “wonderful connection” with Musk in a video posted on Twitter. “He is focused on trying to deliver a project that is most useful to our residents with the least amount of money,” said Suarez. “The order of magnitude in terms of savings is significant.”
Musk first tweeted about wanting to tunnel under Miami on January 18th. “Cars and trucks stuck in traffic generate megatons of toxic gases and particles, but @boringcompany road tunnels under Miami would solve the traffic and set an example for the world,” he wrote. Musk said in the tweet that he had already spoken to Florida Governor Ron DeSantis about the idea. “If the governor and the mayor want, we will do it.”
Suarez said on Friday that he will speak with DeSantis and the mayor of Miami-Dade County. “I think we have a unique opportunity to create an exclusive project not just for Miami, but for the world,” he said.
Tunneling under Miami is not easy because the city is built on limestone, which is spongy. This obstacle is one of the reasons for the very high price quoted in 2018. It also helped to raise the price of a tunnel under the Port of Miami, which was less than a kilometer, but still cost around US $ 700 million.
The Miami Herald reported on Friday that limestone and the impact of rising sea levels were among the discussion points of the link, although it is not clear to what extent these items were discussed. Musk had already talked about digging tunnels as deep as the skyscrapers are tall.
Musk founded The Boring Company in 2016 and has since started several projects across the country. The purpose and scope of the tunnels changed slightly over that time. Nowadays, the company is trying to make a transport service that uses Teslas traveling through the tunnels. The first commercial service is almost completed under the Las Vegas Convention Center, although The Boring Company recently announced a massive expansion across the city that would serve the Strip and the airport. The company is also in talks for a tunnel in San Bernardino County, California.
Other attempts have failed, such as a failed project in Chicago and a canceled tunnel in West Los Angeles.