The first of Elon Musk’s ‘Boring’ tunnels should be ready to go by next week

It looks like we can expect the first tunnels of The Boring Company to become operational as soon as next week. “Just installed steel skeleton of the car/pod elevator,” the entrepreneur tweeted. “Should be operating next week.”

Musk has even tweeted out a few clues as to where this first tunnel may be, and by the looks of things, it’s right across from the SpaceX building in Hawthorne.

Perspective pic.twitter.com/4DW9csSmtl

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) June 30, 2017

Just a few days earlier, he announced that his new venture had finished drilling the first segment of tunnel beneath Los Angeles, heralding a successful start to his company’s bold mission to drill a vast network of tunnels criss-crossing the city in a bid to ease traffic congestion at street level.

The drill that got the work done is called Godot, named by Musk himself so he could one day double down on his wordplay efforts by tweeting that drilling had started and so he was no longer Waiting For Godot. Which is exactly what he did on Wednesday.

No longer waiting for Godot. It has begun boring and just completed the first segment of tunnel in LA.

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) June 28, 2017

Musk — yes, this is the same guy behind the even more extraordinary Hyperloop high-speed transportation system — certainly ought to be excited to share that The Boring Company is making real progress with the ambitious plan he first hinted at in 2016.

Across the road and below the ground pic.twitter.com/E2DG8EzaXg

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) June 30, 2017

We know he’s already done a spot of test drilling beneath his SpaceX headquarters — oh yes, he’s also behind that stunning rocket system that can land boosters back on Earth in one piece — in Hawthorne, California, but it seems Godot’s debut drilling work could have taken place somewhere between Los Angeles international airport and Sherman Oaks some 14 miles to the north, which Musk recently said would be the site of the first tunnel.

If that’s the case, then the meeting he had earlier this month with L.A. mayor Eric Garcetti about the project must have gone far better than he let on, as at the time Musk only said they’d had “promising conversations.” He said of the same meeting that “permits [are] harder than technology.”

Underground exploits

Musk has been delighting followers of his subterranean adventures by posting various videos — including the one above — showing how the system could work.

Cars would be able to reach a myriad of locations around the city by traveling underground at speeds of 125 mph. No, the driver wouldn’t be in their seat flooring the gas while trying to avoid scraping along the tunnel walls; instead, the vehicle and its occupants would be lowered gently from street level onto an electric sled that carries it along a fixed track at great speed. Cyclists and pedestrians could also use the system by stepping into large pods available for public use.

What do you think? Is this really going to happen or will regulations and costs ensure the plan eventually gets, as Elon himself might well be tempted to say, buried?

Update: Added more tweets from Elon Musk to show where the first tunnel can be expected to become operational next week.