Elon Musk’s The Boring Company has dropped Knoxville and Gatlinburg onto a very short list, naming both East Tennessee cities among 16 finalists in its national Tunnel Vision Challenge. The prize on the line is a one-mile tunnel, built at no construction cost to the winner. The contest drew nearly 500 entries, and the company says it will pick a winner on March 23. Local supporters say the proposals could take a serious bite out of game day and tourist traffic if either pitch gets the green light.
According to The Boring Company, the Tunnel Vision Challenge received 487 submissions before the field was narrowed to 16 finalists. The rules opened the door to Loop transit, freight, pedestrian, utility or water tunnels and required teams to show stakeholder backing and basic technical feasibility. The company says it will cover construction of the winning one-mile tunnel, at no construction cost to the host community.
What Knoxville’s Vol Loop Would Do
Sweetwater small-business owner Kacee Leekley came up with the “Vol Loop” idea, a roughly one-mile, 12-foot-diameter tunnel running from Market Square to Neyland Stadium, complete with automated electric carts and a parallel pedestrian path, Leekley told WVLT. He estimates that trips that can drag on for an hour during game days could be cut to just a few minutes, and says the concept hit him as soon as he saw the competition announced on X. Knox County Mayor Glenn Jacobs publicly endorsed the proposal as a potential boost for East Tennessee.
Gatlinburg And Other Tennessee Finalists
Gatlinburg’s entry, the “Mountain Mile Loop,” is listed as a loop concept, while a separate Hendersonville proposal is categorized as a utility tunnel, as reported by the Knoxville News Sentinel. Across the rest of the finalist list, The Boring Company is weighing projects that range from pedestrian walkways to freight and water tunnels. With multiple Tennessee entries making the cut, the state is emerging as a notable focus for the company’s tunnel ambitions.
City Officials Say They Had No Role
Inside Knoxville’s City County Building, officials insist they were not in on the pitch. Knoxville communications director Kristin Farley said Mayor Indya Kincannon and her administration had no involvement with the Tunnel Vision application and that anyone could submit a proposal without the city’s knowledge, according to ActionNews5. Gatlinburg city leaders have not yet said publicly whether their government played any role in that entry. In either case, officials note that if a Tennessee proposal wins, any tunnel would still face local permitting requirements and sign-offs from the university or county before shovels hit the ground.
How “Free” Really Works
The rules for Tunnel Vision spell out that The Boring Company intends to pay for construction of the mile-long tunnel itself, The Boring Company states. However, related station construction and aesthetic features are not automatically covered and would be negotiated with the winning team. The company also reserves the right to tweak the challenge or even pick more than one winner. Even with private money covering the tunneling, local permitting, right-of-way deals and safety reviews would ultimately decide how fast anything could actually get built.
Local Reaction
Students and downtown business owners told WVLT they are ready for almost any solution to game day gridlock and the weekend traffic that swamps Market Square and Cumberland Avenue. Supporters point to Nashville’s unfolding example and say a short underground ride that skips clogged streets could make downtown more accessible all year. Skeptics counter that big questions are still hanging in the air, including the exact route, how much extra station and surface work would cost, and who would actually foot the bill to operate a Loop system over the long haul.
Where This Fits In Tennessee’s Tunnel Push
The Vol Loop and Mountain Mile Loop proposals are arriving just as The Boring Company is already digging into Tennessee. State and federal approvals cleared permits for the Music City Loop in Nashville, and tunneling has begun there, according to WBBJ. That project has stoked both enthusiasm and scrutiny, offering a preview of the kind of approval gantlet a smaller one-mile pilot in East Tennessee would likely face…