Musk Drops Planned LA Sepulveda Tunnel Because of Environmental Lawsuit

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Elon Musk’s tunneling company has dropped its plans to dig beneath Sepulveda Boulevard on the Westside because of an environmental lawsuit.

Musk had wanted to dig a 2.7-mile tunnel planned along Sepulveda Boulevard on L.A.’s Westside.

The Boring Company has posted images online showing a possible network of tunnel routes across L.A., with proposed stations at the Getty Center, Dodger Stadium, Union Station and Los Angeles International Airport. Opponents say that the map is evidence that the proposed Westside tunnel is part of a much larger planned underground transportation network. California does not allow portions of construction projects to be approved separately.

City Councilman Paul Koretz supports the tunnels. Koretz hopes Boring Company tunnels can be built more quickly and at a lower cost and at no government expense. He would like tunnels from LAX to Westwood to the Valley at a minimum by the 2028 Olympics.

21 thoughts on “Musk Drops Planned LA Sepulveda Tunnel Because of Environmental Lawsuit”

  1. Obviously some change to California’s laws will be necessary in the future as the boring company isn’t going away. So what change to the law could provide adequate provisions for tunneling while also maintaining strict environmental protections. It seems that this is a classic case of technology moving faster than legislation. The very nature of what the boring company is planning on accomplishing is structured as a piece-meal plan which will slowly grow from a small pilot program. This must also be accomplished without writing a law which is too targeted which could open california up to lawsuits for anti-competitive legislation. Any policy wonks out there?

  3. Environmental impact can occur at the tunnel entries and exits. How do you handle the new traffic and what new roadways need to be built in an already built up dense area? Also, what if there is some kind of ground slumping that affects buildings and roads above? There are a crapload of people that could be negatively affected and if there are lots of these problems up front it could sink the whole project.

  4. Any significant change to traffic patterns will have some losers. Put a tunnel here and that drive-in burger joint loses half their customers. Put better transport system in and people with lots of inner city real estate no longer have such a premium.

  5. No, you don’t understand. The idea is to prevent people making electric underground tunnel transport because fuel powered cars on the surface are better for the environment.

    They aren’t watermelons, they are brussel sprouts: Green on the outside and pure evil on the inside.

  6. That’s true, dictators GET SHIT DONE! As long as you don’t mind being a sheep being herded along, China is a great country.

  7. It is the tunnel for the electro-voltaic transportaiton. If there is a groundwater in your way you cannot drill any tunel. In the finished tunel is low risk of groundwater polution if the transportation is electro-volataic.

  8. Just leave it up to the Environmentalists to ruin a great thing! No, they’re not satisfied with burning down the state. Now they have to ruin everything else!

  9. Groundwater. Although I believe their drinking water is piped in, you still don’t want to pollute the groundwater. Obviously you’d also want to steer clear of the La Brea tar pits and whatever hydrology drives that place. And for his best interests, you want to make sure there’s no faults in the area that will misalign the tunnels at some point.
    But yeah, those issues should be fairly easily managed with a waterproof tunnel casing and some planning.

  10. I spent four years of my life working in structures buried more than 85 feet underground (right up against the bedrock) and, frankly, I never saw anything remotely resembling an environment down there.

    Idiots. We really need a serious penalty for people bringing frivolous lawsuits.

  11. Taking your car with you down into the metro makes about as much sense as being buried in it. Elon must have been smoking too much when he came up with that one.

  12. America and democracy “speed” of doing things is hopeless.
    Elon better take this tech and his company to China, you will have whole network constructed in several years, not just some tiny experimental tunnel by 2028.

  13. Who would want to oppose this? My guess, someone who really hates Musk and wants this to fail at all cost. Probably some shortseller.

  14. Wow, some people really hate Musk that much that they think they have to oppose everything he does. What douchebags!

  15. Transportation grids are always part of a larger project. As the community grows, so will the transportation grid. Requiring an approval for a project that will never end is … problematic

  16. I suspect once a few segments of tunnel are up, and running, everyone will want one in their neighborhood. It won’t matter what the law is, since it will be easy to change, once the public speaks.

  17. I can’t see how these tunnels will not lessen environmental impact, compared to the modes of transportation they will replace. As far as approving a completed transportation system all at one go, is there never a new street built in LA, that wasn’t approved decades ago when this became law?

  19. Why is it someone is always trying to stop progress? Don’t they realize that stopping progress hurts us ALL?

  20. “Instead of pursuing plans to dig beneath Sepulveda on the Westside, Musk’s tunneling company will focus on an underground link between Dodger Stadium and a Metro station about 3½ miles away, the statement said.”

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