A modified Tesla Model X drives in the tunnel entrance before an unveiling event for the Boring Co. Hawthorne test tunnel in Hawthorne, California, December 18, 2018.
Robyn Beck | Pool | Reuters
When Elon Musk’s Boring Company announced plans in July to build 20 miles of tunnels in Nashville to carry passengers to and from downtown to the airport in Tesla cars, Republican Governor Bill Lee touted the project as “transformative.”
Eight months later, residents appear less enthusiastic.
A new survey from Vanderbilt University, which is located in Nashville, found that 51% of residents residents disapprove of plans for the so-called Music City Loop when they’re aware of Musk’s involvement.
“The public’s support for Elon Musk’s tunnel project is heavily influenced by partisanship,” Vanderbilt said on its website, regarding the poll. Local opposition to construction rose to 51% from 35% “when Musk’s name is explicitly mentioned in the question.”
Musk became a prominent and controversial figure in politics in 2024, when he spent around $300 million to propel Donald Trump back to the White House, and then worked in the early days of the president’s second tenure in the White House, slashing the size of the federal government and cutting key programs.
The Boring Company didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
Earlier this month, Metro Nashville Council members voted to formally oppose the Music City Loop. However, the state’s Republican leadership has given Musk’s company permission to dig under state highways throughout the city.
Tennessee is now weighing a bill that could give the state the power to take fees from such projects, and to direct federal transit grants to the state’s preferred projects. The bill, if enacted in its current draft, could also give the state and project operators the power to regulate underground transit systems, leaving municipalities like Nashville with little recourse to address fires or other emergencies, and workplace safety or pollution concerns.
City council members in Nashville and residents who opposed the Music City Loop expressed concern about The Boring Company’s track record in public hearings.
As ProPublica previously reported, citing public records, when Musk’s tunneling venture built its “loop” at the Las Vegas Convention Center, the company racked up an “extraordinary number of violations,” covering a wide array of problems such as missed inspections, unpermitted construction, water pollution and worker injuries.
Those who supported The Boring Company in public hearings praised Music City Loop’s potential to create construction jobs in the city, and hoped the tunnels would alleviate traffic congestion in Nashville.
The Boring Company this week announced that it its targeting more U.S. cities — including Baltimore, Dallas and New Orleans — for tunnel development. The company is running its business development efforts as a contest, the Tunnel Vision Challenge, promising winners a “free” one-mile tunnel. The Baltimore Ravens, who had entered the challenge and won, turned down Musk’s offer after initial meetings with the company.
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