Las Vegas officials are pushing back against claims that the Boring Co.’s Vegas Loop project is being tunneled with little oversight.
A ProPublica article, which ran in the Review-Journal this month, noted various times Boring Co. has been cited by regulators for workplace issues tied to the Vegas Loop project, noting the project was being hardly being regulated by area and federal officials. The Review-Journal has also previously reported on multiple instances the company faced scrutiny from area regulators.
The ProPublica article also questioned if billionaire Elon Musk, who owns Boring Co., would use his stature within President Donald Trump’s cabinet, to further skirt regulatory processes when building out projects such as the Vegas Loop.
The Vegas Loop project outside of the Las Vegas Convention Center is privately funded and not receiving federal funding, which means it doesn’t have to undergo vetting and environmental processes that regulate other transportation projects. Those processes, especially the environmental ones, can take years to complete before construction can begin. If/when the Vegas Loop project moves to extend to Harry Reid International Airport or underneath a highway, such as Interstate 15, those federal regulations would come into play.
Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority Chairman and CEO Steve Hill addressed the article at last week’s board meeting.
An admitted proponent of the Vegas Loop, Hill said the project is undergoing the same processes as other privately funded projects in Clark County and the city of Las Vegas, which includes the entitlement and permitting processes. Hill said the ProPublica article “was sometimes inaccurate and often misleading.”
The nonprofit news site declined to comment on Hill’s criticisms.
Hill also sent a letter last week to resort leaders, summarizing his around 20-minute speech on the topic. ProPublica declined to comment about Hill’s critique of their work.
Project oversight
The Vegas Loop project is a point-to-point transportation service, taking passengers via Tesla vehicles through underground tunnels. It was chosen by the LVCVA in 2019 as the preferred project for a people mover project at the Las Vegas Convention Center. At $52.5 million, the loop was the cheaper option presented, which included monorails, elevated roadways and even a gondola.
With plans to move the tunnel system into the resort corridor and beyond, the LVCVA purchased the struggling Las Vegas Monorail in 2020 for $24 million, to eliminate a noncompete clause the monorail held over potential conflicting resort corridor transportation projects. The monorail cost $660 million to construct, and in 20 years of operations that amount has yet to be recouped via ridership fares, Hill said.
Oversight of the Vegas Loop system is delineated in a franchise agreement the Boring Co. signed with Clark County in 2021.
The 61-page document details fire safety, permitting and other regulations overseen by the county, as well as business licenses. There is no mention of environmental safeguards or policies within the franchise agreement.
The county can halt the project if it determines the Boring Co. is not operating under the terms of the franchise agreement, Hill said.
Hill said look no further than the delayed opening of the Westgate Station of the Vegas Loop over fire safety concerns to prove the project is being well regulated.
“The county has not let them open the Westgate,” Hill said. “That station and line have been ready to be opened, if they were to open the way they’re currently structured, for six or seven months. So, they obviously have the ability to say no.”
Clark County officials confirmed to the Review-Journal that they have been engaged in ongoing discussions with the Boring Co. regarding the expansion of the system outside of the Las Vegas Convention Center footprint, which has been transporting conventiongoers between three exhibit halls since 2021.
“The Vegas Loop is a unique, first-of-its kind system designed to help relieve congestion in the resort corridor,” Stacey Welling, Clark County spokeswoman said in an email. “It is subject to compliance with existing fire and building codes, and Clark County has been working with The Boring Co. to add additional safety enhancements for the public and emergency responders as the system expands.”
These additional measures that were discussed were placing response vehicles in passageways inside the tunnels, upgrading camera software for an additional layer of fire and smoke detection inside the tunnels, ongoing evaluation of the tunnel sprinkler system and ongoing monitoring and training of drivers.
“We appreciate The Boring Co.’s diligence in working with county staff to provide enhanced safety measures,” Welling said. “Clark County’s Building Department issued temporary Certificate of Occupancies this week for the Riviera Station to the Westgate Resort with the agreed-upon enhanced safety measures.”
The months of waiting for the Westgate link to open came to an end last weekend, as it became the latest station to open to passengers.
“It’s been a long time coming, so to see that activity and to see how it’s getting used we really couldn’t be happier,” Cami Christensen, Westgate president and CEO said. “It’s helping change the traffic for our city.”
County comfortable with Boring Co.
Despite the documented issues, Clark County Commissioner Jim Gibson said he is comfortable with how the Boring Co. has been operating as it moves to expand the Vegas Loop.
“We wouldn’t have given approvals if we determined things weren’t the way they ought to be and what it needs to be for public safety reasons,” Gibson said. “Our sense is we’ve done what we need to do to protect the public. That the system will really be effective, but you can’t measure that until you get more of it opened.”
As seen in the Westgate situation, Gibson said Boring Co. is working with administrators and the fire department to make nothing is missed as the Vegas Loop plans move along. Due to the extensive discussions being had by all sides, Gibson has no doubt everything is proceeding at a safe and appropriate pace.
“I’m comfortable with everything that we’ve done,” Gibson said. “I think we’ve worked through some of the issues that had come up and not all of them are finally resolved, but I think they are all where they need to be in order for us to keep going.”
The LVCVA is also happy with the early results of the Vegas Loop’s operation with millions of riders served, with almost no issues.
“The results that we’ve seen already, we’ve moved 3 million people through this system and the worst thing that we’ve had was a little fender-bender,” Hill said.
In relation to some of the violations the Boring Co. has committed while digging the current portion of the tunnel system, Gibson said with the Vegas Loop being the first transportation system of its kind in the world, everyone involved is still learning.
“We’re learning as we go,” Gibson said. “The most important thing of all is to make sure the public is safe. We believe it will be.”
Next up
Outside of the Westgate station, there is ongoing work to ready a tunnel to Encore, which is planned to open this year, and the University Center loop that will connect a station near UNLV and the Silver Lot at the Las Vegas Convention Center. Before further Vegas Loop plans outside of the current tunneling could occur, the county and Boring Co. had to address their outstanding issues, Hill said.
“The two coming up Paradise are continuing to be built,” Hill said. “Those (issues) have to be resolved in order to open the system up and to get permission to continue to get additional tunnels built.”
With the safety issues seemingly figured out, the next plans for expanding the Vegas Loop revolve around Allegiant Stadium, the Athletics’ planned ballpark and the South Strip.
“There are several lines that have permits turned in for them,” Hill said. “Some of them have been waiting for quite some time, largely based on the answered to these questions. We’ve got 68 miles of tunnels that have the entitlements they need to move forward, but they need to have building permits, and you need to know that they’re going to be able to be opened.”
Gibson said the county is anxious to see what the system looks like as it develops and moves toward the goal of having 68 miles of tunnels and 104 stations. With projections of moving 90,000 passengers per hour at full build, the only test to capacity projections was in 2021, when the LVCVA conducted a stress test, which they said surpassed the 4,400 passengers per hour that the Boring Co. promised in their contract with the tourism agency. Gibson admitted that officials won’t know if the full system can meet the projected 90,000 people per hour capacity until it is fully built out.
City of Las Vegas
There are a few Vegas Loop submittals in for the city of Las Vegas, which would see a line go from the Strat to the Garage Mahal at Circa, Hill said, noting that “Downtown properties have been very supportive of this, and they want this to happen.”
City of Las Vegas’ building and safety division has yet to issue permits related to Vegas Loop construction, according to spokesman Jace Radke.
“Some additional meetings are needed to go over the project with the company,” Radke said via email. “Part of this process is continued work with the city’s fire prevention team.”
Having both Las Vegas’ and the county’s fire departments on the same page as far as what the fire safety requirements are for the loop project, is the best-case scenario, Hill said.
“What clearly makes sense is the city fire department and the county fire department have the same standards,” Hill said.
Contact Mick Akers at makers@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2920. Follow @mickakers on X.
