Elon Musk's The Boring Co. pedestrian tunnel in Kyle shelved, fails to meet railroad safety, engineering standards

Six months after Kyle City Council approved a $50,000 professional services agreement with The Boring Co. for preliminary engineering services to build a railroad pedestrian underpass within the Kyle Crossing Phase 2 Development, the project has been stifled. The Boring Co., founded by Elon Musk, is an infrastructure and tunnel construction company headquartered in Pflugerville.

The tunnel itself was projected to cost around $3 million; however, it has been found not viable and was not approved by Union Pacific Corp., Director of Communications Rachel Sonnier said.

"[UPRR] looks at and considers various projects, but they must meet our safety and engineering standards, public and private," Union Pacific Communications Manager Robynn Tysver told Community Impact in an email. "The project, as presented, did not meet [UPRR] engineering standards. These standards are designed to account for the safety of UPRR operations and those of the surrounding communities."

"Since the project cannot proceed without approval [from UPRR], the city of Kyle is no longer pursuing it as an option and is now considering a pedestrian overpass," Sonnier said.

This is not the first hiccup this project has endured. Prior to the agreement with The Boring Co., the tunnel was meant to be a bridge but was also found not viable by the Texas Department of Transportation.

"Previously, the city looked at adding a pedestrian walkway on the existing bridge. But the existing bridge was too narrow to accommodate a pedestrian path," Sonnier said. "It was never deemed unsafe by TxDOT though, just that the bridge couldn't accommodate it."

Mayor Travis Mitchell said there is still an agreement in place with the developer of the Kyle Crossing, Central SouthWest Texas, which will be shouldering the cost of whatever will replace the tunnel.

"We will be exploring how best to utilize those funds now that the tunnel is no longer a viable path," Mitchell said.