Elon Musk’s Boring Company Gets Green Light to Build Underground Tunnel

Two-mile underground tunnel will dart passengers at up to 125 mph

The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step — or in Elon Musk’s case, a single tunnel.

The Tesla and SpaceX CEO has just received approval from a Southern California city to start building a two-mile underground tunnel for his “side project,” The Boring Company — which is aiming to alleviate traffic through a network of subterranean shuttles and tunnels.

The City Council of Hawthorne — the SoCal headquarters for SpaceX and Boring Co. — voted four-to-one in favor of letting Musk dig a test tunnel 44-feet below ground, according to The Verge. Until now, The Boring Company was only able to dig directly under SpaceX HQ. It’ll now be able to extend its tunnel beyond the company’s private property.

“This is groundbreaking, this is establishing a precedent, and I think we all agree that we want to make sure that this goes off without a hitch,” said Hawthorne’s Mayor Alex Vargas after the vote.

Musk has been building anticipation for The Boring Company’s solution to Los Angeles traffic for much of the summer. He teased the futuristic buses that’ll shuttle people through the tunnels, along with cars being able to lock-in to sleds above ground and shoot through below-the-surface tracks.

This isn’t some slow subway car, either. The Boring Company will dart people at up to 125 mph — which Musk shared a video sneak peak of, as well.

Last month, the serial entrepreneur tweeted he’d received “verbal government approval” to start building an East Coast version of his plan — zipping commuters from New York City to Washington, DC in just 29 minutes. Hawthorne’s green light might not be as colossal a project, but it’s a start.

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