FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – The “Las Olas Loop,” as it’s proposed to be called, would go from downtown Fort Lauderdale to the beach.
And now we’re getting a look at other places it could expand.
Local 10 News has obtained a copy of the proposal given to Fort Lauderdale by billionaire Elon Musk’s Boring Company to create an underground tunnel with the vision of improving your commute and making it easier to get around the tourist destination. (See the proposal at the bottom of this page.)
“For years, Fort Lauderdale has been blessed with the popularity of people coming to the beach and wanting to visit, and it seems that our roadways have really only been designed for the 1960s and 1970s,” Mayor Dean Trantalis said.
This loop could take the city into the 21st century, they believe. It would shuttle passengers about 2.5 miles underground in Tesla cars, going from downtown to Fort Lauderdale beach in about three minutes.
“I think in and of itself it’s going to be a destination,” Trantalis said. “People are going to want to come to Fort Lauderdale just to go through the tunnel.”
The proposal — submitted in June but previously not made public — also shows some places the company thinks the loop could be expanded, like Inter Miami’s DRV PNK Stadium, the Fort Lauderdale Tri-Rail station, Port Everglades, and even Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport.
As for how much it would cost, the company says it’ll be one fixed price, and that they’d cover any overages.
“We don’t have an exact dollar amount just yet but we’re definitely looking at under $90 million for the complete system,” Trantalis said. “This’ll be the beginning, I see, as an interconnecting network underground between the airport and the seaport and then down to downtown Fort Lauderdale.”
“We spent a lot of money trying to come up with ways trying to re-design Las Olas Blvd and Broward Blvd and all of our east-west pathways and it isn’t working,” Trantalis added. “We just can’t make the roads bigger or wider.”
They are hoping to break ground in 2022 and expect to finish 6-8 months after work begins.
See the Boring Company proposal below: