Elon Musk’s tunnel company is exploring whether it’s feasible to construct an underground corridor in New Orleans connecting the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center with parts of downtown, though local officials say an exact route is still in flux.
The Boring Company, a spin-off of Musk’s SpaceX, surprised many when it announced on Tuesday that New Orleans was one of three cities to win its Tunnel Vision Challenge. The competition, which launched in January, sought pitches for the “best 1-mile tunnel.” Dallas and Baltimore were also selected.
The company said it would cover the cost of a “rigorous diligence process” and construction of the so-called “NOLA Loop” — if it’s determined to be feasible.
Convention Center officials met with the company’s project managers at a private breakfast Wednesday at the Four Seasons Hotel, where board president Russ Allen pitched the company on connecting the facility. The meeting, hosted by developer Paul Flower, also included Convention Center CEO Jim Cook.
Flower, in an interview, said he also met with the company two weeks ago and provided them with geotechnical information “as a gift,” noting that he isn’t under contract but thinks the project is something New Orleans “ought to at least look into.”
The company presented several potential routes for the underground tunnel, though Flower said “everything at this particular point is real up in the air.”
“There’s just a myriad of issues that have to be worked through,” he said. “There’s a lot of bridges to cross here.”
Convention Center’s pitch
In an interview, Allen said he pitched the company on connecting the Convention Center with the Superdome, Ochsner Medical Center in Jefferson and Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport.
“There is real need for better transportation options to and from the Convention Center,” Allen said
Another possible route, Allen said, would start at the River District and include stops at Mardi Gras World, the Convention Center, the proposed Omni hotel and the Hilton and Four Seasons hotels.
The Boring Company proposed a route under Decatur Street in the French Quarter, though Allen advised them to drop the idea.
Allen said company officials assured him they wouldn’t seek public funds and that the construction footprint would be “minimal.”
“The thing I kept hearing that I liked was that there would be no cost to the city or state,” he said.
Geography issues?
Allen said the company didn’t seem phased by the geographic limitations in New Orleans, which has a historically high water table and sits on soil deposited from the Mississippi River.
“They were extremely confident that the water table was not a problem,” Allen said.
Headquartered in Hawthorne, California, The Boring Company was spun out of SpaceX in 2018 with the promise of high-speed, low-cost tunnels for transportation and utilities.
So far, the company has dug more than 10 miles of tunnels in Las Vegas, about 4 miles of which are currently operational. The company eventually hopes to have a 68-mile underground network in Las Vegas capable of moving 90,000 passengers around in Tesla vehicles every hour.
Construction is also underway in Nashville, where the privately funded Music City Loop promises to reduce the time it takes to get from downtown to the airport to about 8 minutes.
It’s unclear how New Orleans came across The Boring Company’s radar. The company did not respond to a request for comment.
There were nearly 500 entries to the challenge, which allowed individuals, businesses or governments to propose tunnels and provide their benefit and rationale.
Submissions were judged based on their usefulness, their level of “stakeholder engagement” and their technical, economic and regulatory feasibility, according to the company.
Flower said the company officials “mentioned that people in the organization know about New Orleans” and “pushed for it” and that “some of the people around Elon Musk are familiar” with the city. He said he didn’t get a name.
“They’re interested in cities that are unique,” Flower said. “And certainly, New Orleans is unique.”
