(Image: Courtesy of The Boring Company)
In what seems like a campy scene out of Vegas Shop of Horrors, check out this video of a gurgling asphalt lot at the Westgate Las Vegas Hotel & Casino.
This is the work of Elon Musk’s Boring Company, which just entered a new phase building its network of underground tunnels in Las Vegas that people can traverse via human-guided Teslas. Currently these electric carriages travel 40 feet underground at 30 miles per hour. TBC says the system they’re building eventually will move people at speeds up to 155 mph.
Underground construction may not get as much attention as F1 lane closures despite the potential for race-like speeds. But it’s significant and stands to transform the transportation system in Las Vegas – not just from casino-to-casino, but also to Allegiant stadium, the airport, and various downtown destinations.
In September, Clark County and the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority approved 14 additional stops, bringing the total stations on the planned 68-mile network to 93.
Currently, there are 2.3 miles of tunnel and five stops that are fully operational. Resorts World and Encore have tunnels providing them a direct path to the Las Vegas Convention Center.
There’s no date set yet for completion of the whole system, but this station at the Westgate could be finished as early as February 2024.
The boring device being used in this video is called Prufrock, It’s capable of digging at a pace of a mile per week, which the company boasts is about ⅕ as fast as a snail moves.
This is version 2 of Boring's Prufrock drilling device. The company is currently developing Prufrock-3, which will dig at a speed of seven miles per day, and will eventually dig an underground tunnel connecting Las Vegas and Los Angeles.
Dan Michalski is a longtime journalist based in Las Vegas with nearly 20 years as a writer and editor covering poker, casino gaming and sports betting. As founder of Pokerati and an award-winning blogger, podcaster and news reporter, Dan has worked tirelessly to elevate the standards of journalism in gaming media. He also has served as a gaming industry consultant and holds advanced certificates in gaming regulation from UNLV. When not thinking about media and casinos, he can be found on the tennis courts, where he has captained two teams to USTA national championships, and one to second place.
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