Boring Co. Vegas Loop project tunnels under Strip for 2nd time

Elon Musk-owned Boring Co.’s Vegas Loop project hit another milestone this week, crossing over to the west side of the Strip for just the second time.

The new Vegas Loop tunnel runs between an area on the northern edge of the Wynn Golf Club across Las Vegas Boulevard and to the southeastern corner of the land commonly known as Wynn West. The land, owned by Wynn, was once home to the New Frontier and was once envisioned to feature a new Wynn resort.

“Emerging from beneath the Las Vegas Strip,” Boring Co. said in a tweet Tuesday announcing the new loop development, including a video and a picture of a boring machine emerging from the ground.

The permit for the tunnelling work was issued in June by Clark County, according to county spokeswoman Jennifer Cooper. The permit did not come up when searched for on the county’s building records portal.

Boring Co. first crossed the Strip from the Las Vegas Convention Center to Resorts World in 2022 and opened a Vegas Loop station at the resort.

The tunnel is planned to run from Wynn/Encore to Caesars Palace and is one of a few that Boring Co. is working on around the Las Vegas Valley.

The first of two University Center Loop tunnels run underneath Paradise Road from a planned station site on 4744 Paradise near Tropicana Avenue to the Westgate are also moving along. The first tunnel is close to emerging at Westgate, Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority President and CEO Steve Hill said last week.

“The second one I don’t think is too far behind, but I think it is probably in front of the convention center right now,” Hill said. “They’ll both be out relatively soon.”

The University Center Loop is planned to include stations at Virgin Hotels Las Vegas, a potential future multifamily housing unit Boring Co. hopes to build, and two stations north of Flamingo Road that could serve events at Sphere.

The 4744 Paradise station is also a potential key piece to how the Vegas Loop will be able to provide service to and from Harry Reid International Airport. Plans call for the Tesla EVs used in the Vegas Loop to move above ground and transfer passengers to and from the airport. Before those above-ground rides could occur, Boring Co. needs to complete the station and win approval from the Nevada Transportation Authority.

Further plans include building another loop station on Paradise, just south of Tropicana, that would be next to Reid Airport’s planned north multimodal center near Terminal 1.

Tunneling is also complete on a second tunnel between the convention center and the Encore, with crews now tasked at finishing it out before vehicles can operate inside of it.

Once fully developed, Boring Co. envisions the Vegas Loop to feature 104 stations with 68 miles of tunnels. Passengers are transported via Tesla model vehicles in a point-to-points system mainly via underground tunnels.

The Vegas Loop now has 3.5 miles worth of tunnels in operation, with four stations at the convention center, Encore, Resorts World and Westgate.

The system is free to ride within the convention center scope and $4.25 for single ride, $7 for a round-trip ticket and $12.50 for an all-day pass to travel between Resorts World and Westgate. Encore is also occasionally open, but it is listed as closed Sept. 13.

Contact Mick Akers at makers@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2920. Follow @mickakers on X.