Does Waco need a tunnel system? Someone thinks so.
A Waco submission for the Boring Company’s “Tunnel Vision Challenge” is one of 16 finalists for a tunnel project that Elon Musk’s company promises to pay for.
The winner will be announced Monday and Waco’s “Magnolia Loop” proposal is in the running after 487 entries were received, according to a Boring Company announcement this month on X.
Little else is known about the Magnolia Loop proposal. Top City of Waco and McLennan County leaders deny any knowledge or involvement.
Aside from the name, no evidence connects the tunneling proposal with Magnolia Market, the downtown complex owned by lifestyle entrepreneurs Chip and Joanna Gaines.
A Magnolia spokesperson did not immediately respond to an emailed request for comment Friday afternoon. Tunnel project proposals can be up to one mile in length and 12 feet in diameter. Perhaps the best indication of what the project might look like is its “loop” designation.
Boring Company loop projects in Las Vegas and Nashville ferry travelers in Tesla vehicles through narrow tunnels. Other project submissions were listed as “utility” or “pedestrian” tunnels, rather than loops.
Waco Mayor Jim Holmes said Friday he had only heard media reports about the Waco submission, and McLennan County Judge Scott Felton said he was unaware of it.
“I’ll leave that up to the city planners, but I hope they don’t accidentally drain the lake or something like that,” Felton quipped on a call with the Bridge. Holmes said he’d welcome an additional transportation option for Waco.
“I would think that this one would have some practical use, both commercially and both for commercial and passenger use,” he said, but added that “nobody at City Hall knows anything about it.”
The Boring Company has seen mixed reviews from users of its existing loop in Las Vegas, as well as several citations for safety violations for that project, and environmental and permitting concerns for its sibling in Nashville.
In 2023, The Nevada Occupational Safety and Health Administration cited the Boring Company for eight “serious” safety violations during construction of loop tunnels in Las Vegas, including allegations that workers suffered chemical burns.
Transit advocates have also criticized the venture as an expensive diversion from proven mass transit models, such as trains and buses.
The Boring Company was founded in 2017 as a solution to Musk’s frustration with Los Angeles traffic. Early Boring Company rendering depicted futuristic sleds conveying passengers at speed in spacious tunnels, unencumbered by stop lights, congestion or pedestrians.
Engineering and safety challenges paired those ambitions back to a slower, narrower experience for loop users, at least in Las Vegas. The Boring Company did not immediately respond to an email requesting information about the Magnolia Loop project.
Other Texas submissions include proposals in Dallas, Bastrop, The Woodlands and San Antonio. New Orleans, Baltimore and Knoxville are among the larger cities with proposals.
