A huge earth-moving machine was parked in a lot near the Las Vegas Strip on November 15, 2019. It began digging a new concept that will soon serve all of Las Vegas and possibly even further afield.
This is the first part of a vast master plan by Elon Musk. It involves connecting a series underground tunnels to create an innovative underground transportation system. Las Vegas, city of visionaries and gamblers, has made a large bet on it.
Three months ago, high-tech tunneling equipment owned by The Boring Company (a subsidiary Musk’s Space Exploration Technologies Corporation) began digging into the ground beneath the new Las Vegas Convention Center.
History was being made at a speed of one mile an hour and at a pace of 100 feet per day. The first segment of a vast project, which will soon be called the “Vegas Loop,” was 40-feet below the surface.
You haven’t heard of it yet? It’s coming soon.
LVCC loop
The Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority, (LVCVA), was the first to take Musk’s plan seriously. They committed $53million for the “LVCC loop,” which will connect its four exposition halls via two underground tunnel highways.
The construction of the first tunnel, which measures 4,500 feet, took three months. It was finished in February 2020. The second tunnel was completed in May 2020. They combined 1.7 miles.
After all interior work had been completed, the much-anticipated LVCC Loop was officially opened in April 2021. It features two underground “highways” and a fleet Musk’s electric Tesla cars that transport conventioneers through 12-foot-round tunnels with spectacular lighting to three exhibit hall stations spread over the 200-acre site.
Currently the LVCC Loop transports tens to thousands of passengers per hour for all conventions. SEMA 2021 handled 24,000-26,000 riders per day. It also reduces the time it takes to cross campus (often in scorching Las Vegas heat), to just two minutes.
Steve Hill, President and CEO of the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority states that this milestone is a significant step towards the development of a revolutionary transportation system in Las Vegas.
Resorts World Station
The second phase of Musk’s dynamic plan was made a reality by the opening of the new Resorts World Station on June 30, 2022.
The same design was used to connect the new Casino/Hotel with the Las Vegas Convention Center, and the recently completed LVCC Loop.
“Today is a historic moment for both our resort and Las Vegas,” says Scott Sibella of Resorts World Las Vegas. “Our passenger station makes it easier to transition between our resort & the Las Vegas Convention Center .”
But Wait…There’s more
“Resorts World Las Vegas now is also poised for connection to the expanded “Vegas Loop” system,” Sibella said. “When development efforts move forward… it will eventually connect me to many key destinations throughout the City.”
The Resorts World Station will be the first of 55 stops that will eventually make up the “Vegas Loop”, which will soon transport tens to thousands of people per hour through downtown Las Vegas.
The Vegas Loop underground highway system will be built in two phases. It will eventually extend the existing LVCC Loop segment and Resorts World Station segments into a city-wide loop that runs 29 miles with two parallel tunnels 14.5 miles each.
It will start at Resorts World and circle Downtown, Fremont Street, and the City of Las Vegas to its North, and then run south directly underneath the Las Vegas Boulevard Strip, all the way to Allegiant Stadium, Harry Reid International airport, and finally to the Las Vegas Boulevard Strip to the South.
Getting Underway
The initial stage-one agreement with the City of Las Vegas City Council will expand the Vegas Loop from Resorts World, to five stations currently planned with stops at landmarks such as the Stratosphere or Fremont Street Experience.
The Clark County Commission recently approved a Special Use Permit (and Franchise Agreement) for the proposed tunnel transportation system of 29 miles designed by The Boring Company.
TBC can apply for and receive building permits to build the tunnels. The franchise agreement allows the company to manage the system, collect fares, and supervise advertising and partnerships.
The entire cost of the Las Vegas Loop tunnel system’s development and construction will be paid for by The Boring Company. However, individual stops and stations for passengers – each estimated at $20 million – will also be funded by participating Hotel/Casinos. Passenger fare-based pricing will apply to ridership.
span style=”color”: #000000 ;”>” We are excited to move on,” says Steve Davis, President of The Boring Company. “We look forward to working together with Clark County leaders as well as our partners throughout Las Vegas to create a safe and fast transportation system to this amazing destination.”
Las Vegas Wins the Lead
The Vegas Loop is the most innovative transportation solution in the world. It’s the only one of its kind. For a tourist destination like ours, it offers convenient transportation and less congestion along the resort corridor.
“Now, with this project, we see the Vegas Loop as a great opportunity to free up traffic capacity on the surface level.” “Now, the Vegas Loop is a great opportunity for traffic capacity to be freed up on the surface .”
Clark County Commission Chairman Jim Gibson also serves as a member of the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority board.
Gibson says that convention-goers have enjoyed hundreds of thousands of rides to date, and more will as the system grows. “There will be fewer cars on the surface streets which is important for reducing congestion and improving air quality span>
“Local taxpayers will also benefit from the fact that the system has been privately funded,” he says. “As Vegas Loop grows and matures, more users will be able to use it and large vehicles will be able to operate in its tunnels .”
This last point is important. 700-1000 Tesla cars will have drivers at first, but they will eventually be replaced by autonomous, self-driven models. In the future, larger electric multi-passenger vehicles will be able to travel underground highways.
Gibson concludes, “These are all things that are worth celebrating.”
Today and Tomorrow
The Vegas Loop has become a reality. It is scheduled to start phased-in construction by 2023. Construction is expected to be completed within three to five years.
You can zoom from the Las Convention Center in five minutes to Harry Reid Airport in less than a minute for $5.00, or from Fremont Street in eight to nine minutes for $12… And to many other places around the city via the underground tunnel network just as economically.
The system will also include Wi-Fi connectivity, cell phone service, and Wi-Fi connectivity. Musk stated that additional tunnels could be built in any number of layers, from 40 to 50 feet apart, should the existing system ever reach passenger and transport capacity.
The Vegas Loop is only the beginning for Musk and City Planners. Many tunnels linking to other areas and cities in the Las Vegas Valley such as Henderson, Summerlin, and Pahrump are currently being considered.
Las Vegas and its Loop are set to become the leading model city for futuristic transport. However, if they succeed, there seems to be no limit to the potential for the country and the world.
Tunnel Vision
Musk posted the following tweet in December 2016: “Traffic is driving my nuts. Musk tweeted: “I am going to build tunnel boring machines and just start digging.” He formed The Boring Company within six months and began tunneling at the SpaceX parking lot in Hawthorne.
Musk is considering a high-speed underground tunnel highway to connect Las Vegas and Los Angeles. There’s also a 381-mile section between San Francisco and LA. This would be a viable traffic solution to any number of major cities such as New York, Chicago and Miami. He is also interested in famous European destinations, like Paris and London.
Ten… Nine… Eight…
As if all that wasn’t enough, Musk’s parent company SpaceX along with its subsidiary The Boring Company are teaming up to visualize a colonization of Mars as populated by vast underground cities.
Crazy? Perhaps not. You might not. Keep this in mind as you prepare for an underground trip to Fremont Street that is George Jetson-worthy.
On November 15, 2019, a massive earth-moving machine started to fire up in a Las Vegas parking lot to dig Musk’s innovative concept. It will soon serve all Las Vegas, and possibly even the entire universe.
We’re in the forefront of innovation… and just along for the ride.
The post VEGAS LA LOOP: First in its Kind for Any Destination appeared originally on Vegas Legal Magazine.