An Elon Musk tunnel to Hard Rock Stadium? North Miami Beach ponders underground loop to alleviate traffic
Hard Rock Stadium and Florida International University’s Biscayne campus are part of the latest proposal submitted by billionaire Elon Musk’s Boring Company to North Miami Beach to build a transit tunnel underneath Miami-Dade.
The core of the plan involves developing a 6.2-mile tunnel for Tesla vehicles to ferry passengers underneath State Road 826 East from Northwest 2nd Avenue to Northeast 35th Avenue in North Miami Beach. Boring puts the “rough” estimated cost between $180 million and $220 million, in a 36-month construction time frame.
The idea, similar to those being contemplated in Fort Lauderdale and Miami, is to take thousands of commuters out of their cars and into an underground network of Teslas, driving them to their destinations and beyond; the projects would also connect with existing rail networks Brightline, Tri-Rail and Metrorail.
The tunnel concept is already at work in Las Vegas, where a 1.7-mile loop sees — for now— human-driven Teslas shuttling passengers underneath that city’s convention center at a top speed of 40 miles per hour.
Boring’s submission on Feb. 1 to North Miami Beach puts that city close behind Fort Lauderdale in the push to be the first to build the innovative loop in South Florida. Boring submitted a plan for
Lauderdale in June. North Miami Beach would find itself ahead of Miami, where Mayor Francis Suarez has proposed a more expansive transit system for the city. A Suarez spokesperson said there was no update on the progress of that project.
The North Miami Beach project is being spearheaded by Commissioner Michael Joseph, who says the project would alleviate traffic congestion while serving as a marquee attraction for the city.
“Why not us?” he said. “We have a lot of development coming, we want to plan ahead. We
know development is coming from all over the place.”
Joseph recently toured the Vegas loop, and said he found it “cutting edge.” He said the Musk company’s technology would prove a less intrusive, not to mention less expensive, transit solution than others being proposed in the region.
“There’s always a hidden cost to something like (the monorail) project in Miami Beach, which is the disruption to quality of life,” the North Miami Beach commissioner said.
The proposed Hard Rock and FIU-Biscayne “spurs” would come further in the future. The core of the project underneath State Road 826, essentially from Golden Glades to Sunny Isles, would initially see Tesla vehicles carrying as many as 7,500 passengers per hour, and over time as many as 15,000 per hour, according to Boring’s proposal. A loop to Hard Rock would stretch three additional miles, while the FIU-Biscayne spur would run 1.8 miles.
Joseph said city officials are now working to determine potential funding sources to build the underground tunnel. He noted a substantial portion could come from money included in federal infrastructure legislation just signed into law by President Joseph R. Biden. State funding also could be involved.
“We know they’re looking to put money behind communities that do not traditionally receive infrastructure funding,” Joseph said. “And we’re a majority-minority community.”
Meanwhile, Fort Lauderdale continues to negotiate with Boring officials about a proposed route underneath Las Olas Boulevard from downtown to the beach. The next step is submitting an interim agreement before city officials on March 15, city manager Chris Lagerbloom said.
“It is a very real project,” he said.
Details about the final route in Broward County, as well as funding, are still being discussed. But he said the feasibility of drilling into South Florida’s porous limestone bedrock was not in doubt.
“Engineers have looked at it, and I’ve talked to more subterranean engineers than I ever would have before,” Lagerbloom said. “Subterranean tunneling has been accepted around the world as a very doable solution for vehicles, trains, any mode of transit. The fact that we’re in South Florida doesn’t have any impact on whether we can tunnel. It mainly has to do with what method, and some polymers used to keep water out. But as far as whether it’s possible: It’s very possible.”
BLOCKCHAIN.COM SIGNS WYNWOOD LEASE
Cryptocurrency exchange Blockchain.com signed a lease in Wynwood last week, and announced plans to bring as many as 300 jobs to its 22,000-squarefoot space at 230 NW 24th St. It also has secured naming rights to the building, which was developed as CUBE Wynwd.
“As Miami solidifies its status as a mecca for crypto, we couldn’t be more excited to announce the location for planting our permanent roots in the city,” Peter
Smith, Blockchain.com CEO, said in a statement. “The speed at which our business is growing matches that of Wynwood and Miami itself, creating the perfect backdrop for us to continue scaling worldwide from our very own Blockchain.com building.”