Updated Feb. 25, 2026, 11:01 a.m. CT
Nearly seven months following its announcement, the Tennessee Department of Transportation and the Federal Highway Administration jointly approved Elon Musk’s The Boring Company’s lease application and enhanced grading permit for its planned Music City Loop, Gov. Bill Lee said in a Feb. 25 news release.
“Tennessee continues to lead the nation in finding innovative solutions to accommodate growth, and in partnership with The Boring Company, we are exploring possibilities we couldn’t achieve on our own,” Gov. Lee said in a release. “I’m grateful for TDOT’s commitment to a forward-thinking, fiscally responsible approach to infrastructure modernization that will define the future of transportation in our state and beyond.”
The approvals, following permit applications filed in December, mark the latest development in the project since it secured a 40‑year, $34 million agreement with the Metro Nashville Airport Authority board on Feb. 18.
“The Boring Company is grateful for the leadership and hard work of federal, state, and local agencies in bringing this project to a shovel-ready point,” The Boring Co. President Steve Davis said. “Music City Loop will be a safe, fast, and fun public transportation system, and we are excited to build it in Nashville.”
Officially announced July 28, The Boring Co. will privately fund twin 9.5-mile tunnels under state-owned land connecting Nashville International Airport to the Tennessee State Capitol. Additionally, in September the Tennessean reported the company’s intentions to build a 2.9-mile West End Connector stretching from I-40 to lower Broadway.
“The Music City Loop shows what’s possible when we leverage private-sector innovation and American ingenuity to solve transportation challenges,” U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said in the release
Upon completion in 2027, Boring Co. President Steve Davis said in a November livestream the Loop will sport at least 20 stations across the city.
“Anyone along that alignment is then 9 or 10 minutes away from the airport,” Davis said. “We’ve talked to almost every property owner along these alignment, so we know where we think stations will get built.
While Metro Nashville has been largely removed from Boring Co. jurisdiction the company plans to tunnel only under state-owned land, the Metro Nashville Council could take an official position on the project.
A resolution filed by At-large Council member Delishia Porterfield would oppose the project. She said the opposition revolves around “unresolved concerns regarding safety, labor practices, transparency, environmental impact, geological risk and lack of meaningful engagement with Nashville residents and their duly elected representative.”
That resolution has yet to reach the Metro Nashville Council.
On Feb. 19, Boring Co. officials fielded questions from Metro Nashville Council members during a special committee meeting the company said was in an effort to build trust.
Council member Quin Evans-Segall told members at the start of the meeting that The Boring Co. had agreed to sit for 90 minutes.
That timing restriction disgruntled some city officials, including District 6 council member Clay Capp.
“You say that you want to build trust and be transparent,” Capp said. “It’s not productive of trust or transparency to limit the timing of questions in the way that you have. It’s not productive of trust or transparency to try to file our questions off into emails that the public will not see. It’s not productive of trust or transparency for so many of my colleagues who have asked you direct questions you’ve given indirect answers to.”
