The Woodlands, which was one of 16 finalists for The Boring Company's Tunnel Vision Challenge, was not among the final three locations chosen to have a mile-long tunnel built at no cost.
The Elon Musk-owned company announced in a post on X, formerly known as Twitter, early on March 24 that three final locations were selected as the location for the project: New Orleans, Baltimore and Dallas. A value for the cost of the project was not given by the company.
The latest
In addition to the three winners, The Boring Company said it would work with several other projects to try to get them built, including a project in Henderson, Tennessee, and one in San Antonio.
According to the company, the next step for the selected projects will include meetings with elected officials, regulators, community leaders and business leaders as well as geotechnical borings as part of a feasibility study. The company said it will fund and build any of the projects that are feasible.
"While we are naturally disappointed that The Woodlands was not selected, we are proud to have been part of a forward thinking conversation about the future of transportation," said Brad Bailey, chair of The Woodlands Township's board of directors, in a statement to Community Impact. "Our board is constantly evaluating the needs of the Town Center area, especially during major events when traffic volumes are at their highest. We will continue to work with Montgomery County Pct. 3 Commissioner Ritch Wheeler and other stakeholders in exploring solutions that can help improve mobility, including parking strategies, microtransit options and other innovative approaches.”
Bailey added that The Woodlands would welcome an opportunity to work with the company in the future, should the opportunity arise.
“Throughout this competition, we had extensive meetings with The Boring Company," Bailey said. "Could this tunnel project opportunity come back if the other winners don’t work out? I would say yes. They are early in the process. A lot of due diligence has to take place. Cities like New Orleans and Baltimore have a lot of regulations and aging infrastructure that could drive up the costs, making their tunnel project not attractive to TBC. If that happens, we welcome TBC back to The Woodlands to see what our incredible community could offer.”
The backstory
The Woodlands Township board of directors agreed in February to submit a proposal for the challenge, which would enable the construction of a mile-long tunnel in the Town Center area at no cost to the township, Community Impact previously reported.
The Boring Company’s request for proposals was for a project up to 1 mile in length with a 12-foot inner diameter anywhere "a tunnel would be useful," according to the company's website. The company said in a post on X that 487 applications were received.
According to information from The Woodlands Township, the draft concept for a project called “The Current” included two parallel 12-foot diameter tunnels that could potentially transport passengers in electric vehicles beneath the Town Center corridor near The Waterway.
