NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN) — In its first written blog post since Oct. 1, The Boring Company shared progress made on its Music City Loop project — including an additional proposed connector.
In July, TBC and state officials gathered to announce plans for the project, which seeks to connect the Nashville International Airport with the city’s downtown core. The loop’s proposed route features stops at the State Capitol building as well as the Music City Center.
On Monday, TBC mentioned the company “recently announced the planned Broadway expansion” that would extend from Lower Broadway along West End Avenue past Centennial Park and Vanderbilt University before ending near Interstate 440. They released the following map of each route:
“TBC continues to evaluate additional expansion opportunities, identifying routes most useful to the Nashville community,” the Dec. 1 blog post reads, in part.
Steve Davis, TBC CEO, mentioned in a Nov. 24 X space the company’s commitment to an alignment along Broadway — though he declined to call it a formal announcement at the time.
“What we’re also looking to do, and I don’t want to call this like a formal announcement — it isn’t formal yet — we’re still working with a lot of people on it,” Davis said in the social media space. “But we are officially committed as a company — assuming the community wants it — to also add another two miles of alignment, which is four miles of tunnel because it’s a twin tunnel to go down Broadway, which would be amazing.”
Additionally, TBC’s Monday blog post addressed other progress that had been made since October, including completion of digging and support work for the launch pit and the arrival of Prufrock-MB1 — TBC’s first tunnel boring machine in Nashville. Systems to remove digging waste have also been put in place.
From a technical standpoint, TBC said that machine would be ready to launch on Dec. 15. TBC did not provide a timeline for tunneling to begin, but offered a “best guess” of January in Monday’s blog post.
Twenty-seven of the 45 separate permits and approvals needed for the project had been secured by the Dec. 1 blog post, with another 10 under review. The other eight permits, TBC said, relate to launch sites that would be part of completing both the BNA and Broadway alignments.
Monday’s blog post also addressed some concerns related to the environmental impact of tunneling, safety concerns at TBC’s construction sites. The company claimed there have been zero safety incidents, injuries or other safety issues at the site. TBC responded to articles about inadequate personal protective equipment, claiming that in a video audit TBC employees always wore PPE. In eight instances where contractors did not wear PPE, the company said they were removed from the site.
TBC also responded to articles alleging inadequate wooden shoring at the construction site by saying that they’ve implemented industry standard soldier piles and lagging that “were designed with high margins by Tennessee licensed structural engineers.”
When it comes to safety concerns regarding emergencies inside the tunnel, TBC said they had met with the Nashville Fire Department to share project information and discuss emergency response planning during construction. News 2 has reached out to NFD to confirm the meeting(s) and learn more about these safety discussions. Additionally, TBC has met with the Tennessee Mine Rescue Association for emergency preparedness.
An independent environmental impact assessment and a separate review by a third-party evaluator of that assessment will be published to the Music City Loop website no later than Dec. 15, the blog post said. That assessment evaluated everything from noise and vibration to air quality. News 2 previously reported that blasting possibly related to the project concerned some area residents and workers.
In October, TBC told News 2 they had corresponded with “most of Metro Council members individually.” December’s blog post said the company “has conducted direct meetings with >20 members of Metro Council, representing more than half of the Council.” TBC also said their leadership team is “eager to meet with anyone interested in learning more about Music City Loop.” The blog referenced hiring events and dozens of in-person volunteer events as other outreach efforts that had happened since October.
News 2 has reached out to TBC for more information on the Broadway alignment. As of publication, there’s been no response.
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‘ Some details of this article were extracted from the following source www.wkrn.com ’
