AUSTIN (KXAN) — City of Austin staff went to Las Vegas this week, but not to take a stroll on the Strip.
They met with representatives from Elon Musk’s The Boring Company, the Las Vegas Convention Center and Clark County, Nevada development to talk about underground mobility infrastructure.
The city said 10 employees from the development services department took part.
Together, the city said its staff worked to understand the best practices for permitting this type of infrastructure, which The Boring Company specializes in. According to the business’ website, it “creates safe, fast-to-dig, and low-cost transportation, utility, and freight tunnels.”
They also talked about the challenges Las Vegas faced when building a new subgrade transportation system.
The Boring Company’s website said the Las Vegas Convention Center Loop took about one year to be completed and cost approximately $47 million for two tunnels and three stations. It contains 1.7 miles of tunnel. Two other projects in Las Vegas are either under construction or planned to begin construction this year. City of Austin staff in Las Vegas got to see a construction site.
Similar underground tunnel projects have been proposed in Austin, including one that would connect the Tesla gigafactory in Travis County to downtown Austin while running through Austin-Bergstrom International Airport.
The city said a project has not been submitted for review, but development services staff have met with The Boring Company to discuss city regulations.
Other cities in Texas are also interested in relieving congestion on the roads by using underground tunnels. Media partners at the Austin Business Journal reported in March mobility authorities in Bexar County planned to meet with The Boring Company to discuss a project that would connect the San Antonio International Airport area with downtown.
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