Governor Bill Lee next Monday will reportedly announce a deal with Elon Musk’s Boring Company, who Tennessee will contract to build a tunnel that connects the Nashville International Airport to downtown Nashville.
After reports claiming discussions about a possible tunnel were underway first emerged last month, the Nashville Business Journal reported last week that the involved parties have selected July 28 as their tentative date to unveil the announcement.
According to the outlet, the Boring Company’s tunnel will be between five and 10 miles long, which is more than double the length of the Las Vegas Convention Center Loop. Musk’s company says it completed the first 1.7 miles of the Loop in about one year and had extended the tunnel to 2.1 miles, with five stations, by the end of 2024.
It remains unclear whether the tunnel would receive any support from the Metro Nashville Council, but Axios noted the Boring Company and Lee could opt to build the tunnel using the existing route of Murfreesboro Pike, as the State of Tennessee already controls the land.
The anticipated announcement comes as one Nashville Democrat, State Representative Aftyn Behn (D-Nashville), has already promised to oppose the tunnel’s construction due to Musk’s intermittent support for President Donald Trump and the Republican Party.
“Elon Musk is an absolute grifter, and a scammer, and he has ongoing deals and pitches to cities across the country in which those promises have been unfulfilled,” Behn told WSMV last month, shortly after she unveiled a petition calling on Tennessee to “Keep Musk Out of Music City.”
“He wants to see his empire grow in this city,” said Behn in June. “Nashvillians are saying no, we don’t want Musk anywhere near Nashville.”
Despite the media attention, Behn’s petition received fewer than 1,000 signatures during its first week.
Now one month into circulation, the petition had garnered 1,469 signatures at press time, even after Behn declared her candidacy for the U.S. House of Representatives, where she seeks to represent Tennessee’s 7th Congressional District.
The artificial intelligence company founded by Musk, xAI, recently received approval from Shelby County to install permanent turbines to power its Colossus supercomputer.
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Tom Pappert is the lead reporter for The Tennessee Star, and also reports for The Pennsylvania Daily Star and The Arizona Sun Times. Follow Tom on X/Twitter. Email tips to [email protected].
So many more worthy projects just waiting for the funds to complete. Projects that would benefit a lot more local residents than a tunnel (of all things) from the airport to downtown. Folks, you cannot make this stuff up.
“Elon Musk is an absolute grifter, and a scammer…”
Afton Behn should have some inside knowledge of such things. After all, she’s a leftist, and their entire political platform is a grift and a scam.
Aftyn Behn (D-Nashville) is an absolute moron, and should never attain higher office. I’m tired of butthurt “politicians” whining about people associating with Trump (or whomever,) when the future of a municipality, city, state or country is in the position of improving life for others. These miscreants would rather burn a city down than to associate with someone they don’t like. This is a perfect example of this woman’s instability and reason enough never to vote for her. Only others as mentally ill as her would cast their vote for her.