Musk’s tunnel crusade sparks new rail talk
Hopes rise over stalled plan to go under New River
Elon Musk has used Florida as a launch pad for dozens of orbit-bound SpaceX rockets.
Now, he’s flirting with taking another of his businesses underground in the way of tunnels beneath South Florida’s busy waterways — and Fort Lauderdale mayor Dean Trantalis hopes that could breathe new life into a long-stalled proposal for a rail tunnel under the New River.
It’s all far from a serious plan. But an intriguing flurry of Twitter posts between Musk, founder of Tesla and SpaceX and one of the world’s wealthiest men, and South Florida leaders has speculation swirling online.
Behind the exchange is a push by Miami to lure high tech workers newly freed from their Silicon Valley offices into a world of remote jobs. When Miami Mayor Francis Suarez tweeted an invitation to Musk to city hall to discuss “solutions for the benefit of our future,” Musk’s reply was anything but a brush-off — but he had a hitch.
“Cars & trucks stuck in traffic generate megatons of toxic gases & particulate, but @boringcompany road tunnels under Miami would solve traffic & be an example to the world,” Musk said in his tweet. “Spoke with @RonDeSantisFL about tunnels last week. If Governor & Mayor want this done, we will do it.”
The idea of building tunnels beneath cities isn’t a pipe dream for Musk, whose business The Boring Company is already digging a tunnel under Las Vegas and recently announced a massive expansion of that project.
So it’s no wonder that other leaders in South Florida pounced on the opportunity to snag Musk’s attention.
“Let’s talk,” tweeted Miami-Dade County mayor Daniella Levine Cava.
Broward County vice mayor Michael Udine took his shot: “Paging @elonmusk. Let’s talk!”
Fort Lauderdale’s Trantalis was on board. “Fort Lauderdale would love to be a part of this discussion,” he tweeted to Musk. “We have #tunnelvision in the #magicregion!”
Udine and Trantalis have a particular interest in solving the problem of the draw bridge that brings trains on the East Coast Railway over the Middle River just west of Andrews Avenue in downtown Fort Lauderdale.
That bridge remains open most of the time, allowing boats to reach important marinas and yachting centers up river toward the city’s Marina Mile. When the bridge lowers to let trains pass, boats are stranded on either side.
With Brightline trains expected to begin running again soon, as well as proposals to use the tracks for a new commuter rail service, the marine industry is concerned about how frequently the bridge will cut off boat traffic.
Enter the idea for a tunnel to bring trains under the river instead of over it.
“When we talk about commuter rail between Miami, Broward and Palm Beach, with a stop at the airport in Fort Lauderdale, the big stumbling block as has always been getting over that New River because of the amount of times you would need to have that bridge down,” Udine said. “I know the mayor of Fort Lauderdale wants a tunnel under there, and I know the marine community wants a tunnel too, for obvious reasons. Then they don’t have to have that [drawbridge].
It’s not a new idea, but the proposal has been stalled by an enormous price tag. Previous estimates say a New River rail tunnel would cost $3.3 billion to build and about $8.2 million a year to maintain.
“A bridge is obviously going to be much cheaper,” Udine said. “All I’m saying is when I saw that chatter start, if there’s a spot for a tunnel, if Elon Musk wants to come build a tunnel, this could be a spot where there could be some interest from what I’ve heard from the mayor of Fort Lauderdale.”
Musk’s tunnel vision is as innovative as just about any of his other business ventures. His nearly completed Las Vegas tunnel is being built exclusively for self-driving vehicles.
That high-tech vision fits in with Miami’s interest in replacing San Francisco as a worldwide tech hub, luring venture capitalists, techsavvy entrepreneurs and high-paying, cutting-edge businesses.
Suarez, Miami’s new mayor, recently said 17 financial and tech businesses, including Spotify and Goldman Sachs, have pledged to relocate to Miami.
“I’m like a college football recruiter,” Suarez said during a Jan. 8 news conference.
And at least one tech business that located in Miami Beach thinks the region is well-suited to handle such a role.
Torsten Maehle, CEO of Vaxxinator USA, an air-scrubbing device that he says removes ultra-fine particles from the air. says South Florida is ready to take a step as a player on the tech market. Maehle said he’s been texting with Suarez for the past few days.
“Miami and South Florida not only has an extremely unique history but has a pool of talented people from all sorts of countries, we have a lot of people from South America, Central America, the U.S. and also Europe, and Miami is in an extremely unique situation with young, talented and motivated people and I think it also pretty high up in cities where people start their own businesses so there are a lot of entrepreneurs here and I feel this is an exciting environment to be in,” he said.
Maehle said he think Fort Lauderdale is a bit less developed and laid back business-wise than Miami but with recent development, especially in the Las Olas area, it is catching up.
Musk and The Boring Company did not respond to requests for comment.