The city known for its notorious gridlock may be tunneling its way to the beach one day in the near future.
After months of talks, Fort Lauderdale is now one step closer to hiring Elon Musk’s Boring Co. to build twin tunnels to the beach to help cut down on all that maddening traffic.
Commissioners approved a plan Tuesday night to begin negotiating with the company and vetting the project. The current plan is to build two one-way tunnels along with a station at the city’s beachfront park at A1A and Las Olas, and another at the Brightline station downtown.
The entire project would cost less than $100 million and take less than a year to build, Mayor Dean Trantalis said.
But it’s still not a done deal.
“It’s not a done deal until we complete the engineering and financial analysis,” Trantalis said.
If the tunnels get built, Teslas would shuttle passengers back and forth for a fee of around $5. The cars would start out with drivers but eventually be fully automated.
Trantalis has been championing the project for months, even traveling to Las Vegas earlier this year to meet with Boring Co. officials about whether an underground tunnel might work in Fort Lauderdale.
“The only thing that can happen to derail it is if the engineering report comes back and says it’s impossible to build tunnels in Florida,” Trantalis said Wednesday. “And we know that’s not the case.”
Fort Lauderdale still has to find a way to pay for the twin tunnels to the beach.
The county’s one-cent sales tax designed to raise money for transportation projects is one option. City officials also plan to pursue federal money.
But first, they need to make sure a tunnel will fly here in Fort Lauderdale.
“All last night’s vote did was allow staff to start vetting the project, to start meeting with consultants, to dig deep,” Glassman said. “This was just the next step you have to take to allow everyone to start seriously talking to each other. Our staff now has the go-ahead to start those discussions.”
Some of the vetting of the project might be handled by outside consultants and some by city staff, City Manager Chris Lagerbloom told commissioners.
Commissioner Ben Sorensen said he wanted to see the tunnel plan move forward, but with “full due diligence.”
The city won’t have a real deal with the Boring Co. until the commission approves what is known as a comprehensive agreement. And that could be months away.
“There’s obviously a lot of analysis that will have to take place starting now,” City Attorney Alain Boileau said. “It’s going to be a lengthier process than we’re used to. They’ve done this in a couple other cities. We’re still not there yet to determine if it’s going to be appropriate for us.”
Boileau couldn’t say just how long that might take.
“Finances are a big part of this,” Glassman told the South Florida Sun Sentinel. “You could decide it’s not going to work, that it doesn’t make sense, that you don’t have the financing.”
If it does work, Trantalis and Glassman both say the tunnels to the beach could just be the beginning.
The mayor wants to see the Boring Co. build a tunnel under the New River that would whisk trains through downtown Fort Lauderdale, helping alleviate traffic backups at railroad crossings.
And it doesn’t stop there.
“If this succeeds, the bigger plan is to have a bigger connection,” Glassman said. “We need a connection from the airport, the seaport, downtown and Sunrise Boulevard and all the way out to Lockhart. That, to me, is the big plan.”
Susannah Bryan can be reached at sbryan@SunSentinel.com or on Twitter @Susannah_Bryan
