Last week, news broke that the Boring Company, one of Elon Musk's pet projects which he claims will be the cure for traffic and road congestion in the near future, will be scrapping their plans to dig out a tunnel which would have run parallel to Sepulveda Boulevard.
According to multiple reports, the decision was reached after the Musk-led company was locked in a legal battle with local activists, just six months after getting permits to build the tunnels. Now that the 4.4 km Westside tunnel has been scrapped, the company will be digging a tunnel that connects to the Dodger Stadium instead of the other side of LA.
The local activists argued that the city of LA was allowing the Boring company to evade a review process that included environmental impact studies. These are known to take a long time to complete and the city allegedly circumvented this, allowing the Boring Company to go ahead with the digging.
In spite of the company claiming that the Sepulveda tunnel is only a proof-of-concept that will demonstrate how a system like this could work when applied over a large area, the region's residents were not really amused, reports Reuters.
"The parties ... have amicably settled the matter," said a statement put out by both the company and the activists who sued it. "The Boring Company is no longer seeking the development of the Sepulveda test tunnel and instead seeks to construct an operational tunnel at Dodger Stadium."
"Based on what we've learned from the Hawthorne test tunnel, we're moving forward with a much larger tunnel network under LA," Musk tweeted on Wednesday, adding, "Won't need a second test tunnel under Sepulveda."
The new project will see Elon Musk's borers dig through the other side of LA in a tunnel dubbed, "Dugout Loop," this high-speed transit will connect the Dodger Stadium to one of three already existing subway stations along LA's Metro Red Line, notes the report.
Dugout Loop will, at first be limited to about 1,400 passengers per event and passenger capacity could eventually be doubled, says the company. Fares are expected to be about $1 a ride.
