--- title: "Elon Musk’s Boring Company Scraps Plans for a Westside LA Tunnel" description: "Elon Musk's Boring Company decided to drop plans for a Westside LA tunnel after facing criticism and lawsuits from local advocate groups." date: "2018-11-28" modified: "2018-11-28" authors: - name: "Victor Tangermann" job_title: "Senior Editor" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/victor" url: "https://futurism.com/boring-company-abandoned-plans-westside-la-tunnel" categories: - "Elon Musk" - "Future Society" - "The Industrialists" tags: - "boring company" - "boring tunnel" - "elon musk" --- # Elon Musk’s Boring Company Scraps Plans for a Westside LA Tunnel ![Elon Musk's Boring Company decided to drop plans for a Westside LA tunnel after facing criticism and lawsuits from local advocate groups.]() *\Image: The Boring Company\* ## Blocked Pipes The Boring Company's big reveal of its [first completed tunnel]() project is just 12 days away. But Elon Musk's digging venture just hit a major roadblock on a separate project. In a statement on Tuesday, the company announced that it will no longer pursue digging a tunnel below Sepulveda Boulevard on the Westside of Los Angeles. The company decided to settle with local advocate groups after facing lawsuits over plans for the tunnel instead. ## Lawsuits and Criticism The project has been highly controversial since its [initial announcement]() last year. While the Boring Company found support from two LA County council members, the lawsuits from local Westside advocate groups [started to pile up](). Some of them alleged that the local government [violated state law]() when it decided to [exempt]() the Westside LA tunnel from California environmental laws. Others said it just wouldn't be fair. "We'll have people stuck in traffic on the surface, and this miracle fast lane underground for the people who can afford it," Santa Monica City Manager Rick Cole [told]() the *Los Angeles Times*. "It'll be toll lanes on steroids." ## Hedging Bets That leaves the Boring Company with four ongoing projects, most of which are still being negotiated with local governments. There's the Test Tunnel near its headquarters in Hawthorne, California. There's a tunnel meant to shepherd baseball fans from East Hollywood directly to the Dodger Stadium in LA. There are plans for a Chicago Express Loop to O'Hare Airport. And they're also working on a tunnel that connects downtown DC to Maryland. But today's news is a blow to a project that "started out as a joke," according to Elon Musk in a [recent interview]() with Joe Rogan. **READ MORE:** [Elon Musk’s Boring Co. drops LA Westside tunnel plan]() **More on Boring Company tunnels:** [Elon Musk: First Boring Company Tunnel Will Open in December]() ## Author I've been at Futurism since 2017, where my role has evolved to encompass design, writing, and increasingly editing. I've always been fascinated by space exploration and advanced transportation, which I've leaned into by interviewing luminaries in those fields while closely following the dimensions of policy and regulation that allow next-generation projects to succeed -- or, sometimes, to fail. I'm also keenly interested in the effects of generative AI on society, policies, and democratic institutions, as well as clean energy, physics and biology, and the vagaries of tech leadership. My work for Futurism has been cited by publications including Ars Technica, Gizmodo, PC Magazine, Jalopnik, Fox News, and the New York Post. I spent my childhood living in locations including Manila, the Philippines, and Geneva, Switzerland, attended McGill University, and now live in Toronto, Canada. Before Futurism I worked at AskMen and a small photography studio. In my free time, I'm an avid gardener, foodie, and craft beer lover, as well as a maker of artisanal hot pepper sauces. I have a magnificent dog named Freida. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()