Elon Musk’s Boring Company has conceded defeat in its fight with Los Angeles residents over a tunnel under the west of the city.
The test tunnel, which was to run parallel to Sepulveda Boulevard, was earlier this year exempted from a plan-slowing environmental review by its just-short-enough length. Neighborhood activists sued, claiming the exemption broke state law.
The two sides announced a settlement Wednesday, under which The Boring Company will no longer bore on the Westside. Instead, it will focus on its almost-complete proof-of-concept tunnel under nearby Hawthorne, and its tunnel to Dodger Stadium.
“The parties… have amicably settled the matter,” read a statement from both sides, as reported by Reuters. “The Boring Company is no longer seeking the development of the Sepulveda test tunnel and instead seeks to construct an operational tunnel at Dodger Stadium.”
The mercurial Musk tweeted that he didn’t need the Sepulveda tunnel anyway.
This is completely backwards. Based on what we’ve learned from the Hawthorne test tunnel, we’re moving forward with a much larger tunnel network under LA. Won’t need a second test tunnel under Sepulveda.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 29, 2018
The Hawthorne tunnel is set to open to the public on Dec. 10. On the following day, people will be able to try it out for free.
The Boring Company’s tunnels will allow people to move at 150 miles per hour in electromagnetic pods. A lot of the innovation is actually in the tunneling process, which is supposed to be quite speedy compared with traditional methods.