Elon Musk Teases Plan To Begin Digging Tunnel Near SpaceX Headquarters In Hawthorne
LOS ANGELES (CBSLA.com) — Elon Musk says he's moving forward with a plan to build an underground tunnel near SpaceX headquarters in Hawthorne.
The billionaire SpaceX and Tesla founder first teased the plans in a series of tweets last month, saying LA's horrendous traffic had inspired him to launch a firm, the Boring Company, to focus on traffic-alleviating underground tunnels.
Musk tweeted an update Wednesday, implying that he could begin digging in just a month.
Exciting progress on the tunnel front. Plan to start digging in a month or so.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) January 25, 2017
Details of the plan were sparse, but Musk tweeted that the tunnel would start where Hawthorne Blvd. meets the 105 Freeway near LAX.
Starting across from my desk at SpaceX. Crenshaw and the 105 Freeway, which is 5 mins from LAX
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) January 25, 2017
There are plenty of reasons to question Musk's timeline. For one, the labyrinthine permitting process needed to begin such a project can often take far longer than a few months, if the permitting can be secured at all, USA Today noted.
Musk also has not said how he would finance the project.
But Musk's tunnel plans would appear to dovetail with President Donald Trump's campaign promise to increase spending on infrastructure projects.
Musk met with Trump on Monday to discuss US manufacturing, and has become a surprising backer of Trump's pick for Secretary of State, former ExxonMobil Chief Executive Rex Tillerson.