Nashville hands over land beneath city to Elon Musk
The tunnel will run 10 miles from the city center to the airport on Nashville's south-east corridor, with its entrance just steps from the airport. The privately funded project will supposedly shuttle Tennesseans between downtown and the airport in only eight minutes. That's a big saving in time from downtown to the airport, which takes about 30 minutes by taxi, rideshare, or bus. The company plans to use electric vehicles to connect city hotspots, similar to an already operating Boring system in Las Vegas.
Musk and The Boring Company seemed to have the full support of Republican lawmakers at a press conference announcing the project on July 28. Republican Tennessee Governor Bill Lee said he was excited by the tunnel. 'They could have taken their next underground loop anywhere, but they saw something unique about Tennessee,' he said. 'The best part of all of it is it's 100 percent privately funded. There will be no cost to Tennessee taxpayers.'
John Ray Clemens, chair of the Tennessee House Democratic Caucus, hammered the privately funded project as 'fiscally irresponsible and legally suspect'. 'No responsible executive would give away unrestricted and unlimited underground property rights to an unhinged billionaire, who Donald Trump doesn't even trust anymore, and grant him and his company exclusive access rights beneath our city and a monopoly to profit in perpetuity.'
The project has yet to receive approval from the Metro Nashville Council or the mayor's office, and Nashville Mayor Freddie O'Connell was notably absent from the event. In a brief statement about the project, he said: 'We are aware of the state's conversations with The Boring Company, and we have a number of operational questions to understand the potential impacts on Metro and Nashvillians.'
Yet, United States Senator Marsha Blackburn seemed to think the impact would be overwhelmingly positive. She posted on X that the company 'couldn't have picked a better new home for their state-of-the-art tunneling technology than Nashville'. She wrote: 'I look forward to seeing the tremendous impact of this investment in our city!' State Representative Aftyn Behn called the tunnel a 'privatization of public infrastructure,' noting that it was designed to benefit a select few 'not the people who actually live and work here'.
In his press release about the 'Music City Loop' Behn wrote, 'It's a vanity project for the wealthy, and once again, the Lee administration is rolling out the red carpet for billionaires while working families are stuck in traffic.' 'We rank at the bottom in livability, and yet instead of investing in roads, schools, and transit that benefit everyday Tennesseans, they're floating billion-dollar boondoggles for the ultra-rich,' stated state Senator Heidi Campbell. The decision seems to be just as divisive among citizens as it is among local lawmakers.
One local posted on Reddit afterwards: 'And the grift continues. This isn't a much-needed or desirable project. This is a grift meant to line the pockets of the world's richest person. The goal was never providing a decent or even acceptable transit service.' Another commented: 'Could've had a great light rail system and instead get this utter nonsense.' A third wrote: 'What a complete waste of money that could be going to build transit that's actually useful.' Regardless of the public's opinion, The Boring Company is ready to go full speed ahead. Construction will begin immediately following the approval process, according to the Tennessee state government. It could be operational as early as Fall 2026.
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