The first of the revolutionary Los Angeles tunnels envisioned by Elon Musk could be open to the public for free rides as early as December.
The Boring Co. executive has chosen an unlikely means of showing off the technology meant to ease L.A. traffic. His Boring Co. has dug beneath a traditional single-family home in Hawthorne, creating a test lab for engineers working on the high-speed “loop” train system that will transport riders up to 130 mph, the Los Angeles Times reported.
New documents submitted to the city reveal more details regarding the ambitious plan, which is intended to be privately funded. Among them is a blueprint for building a steel elevator within the garage of a nondescript house.
Plans filed with Hawthorne officials show plans for an elevator shaft concealed inside a garage that will provide engineers access to a tunnel 40 feet below the surface. (Credit: Boring Co.)
An LLC tied to the company purchased a house at West 119th Place, near the Hawthorne Municipal Airport, for $485,000 in January. The company then filed documents requesting approvals to expand the home’s garage, which will provide an elevator that links to an underground test track.
The house will be used as a place for engineers to practice raising and lowering the vehicles into the tunnel and onto platforms called “skates” that will move riders to a series of small stations.
But no need to worry about loud machinery noise, or intruders, says the Boring Co.
The garage will be constantly under supervision to make sure no one can come in. None of the tunnel vehicles will also be allowed to go in and out from the garage.
In fact, the operation will be so quiet that the Boring Co. said the house could even be rented to tenants.
Earlier this year, Musk wrote in an Instagram post that the public would be able to tour the Hawthorne tunnel in a few months “pending final regulatory approvals.” [LAT] — Natalie Hoberman