Back in July, Elon Musk does what he always does: Make a vague statement about an either weird or innovative idea. (Remember the hats?)
Specifically, in the summer, Musk tweeted that he had received "verbal gov't approval" to build an underground tunnel that could take Hyperloop passengers from Washington, D.C. to New York City in 29 minutes flat. To put that in perspective, it takes about 50 minutes to travel 40 miles from D.C. to Baltimore on a good day.
Just received verbal govt approval for The Boring Company to build an underground NY-Phil-Balt-DC Hyperloop. NY-DC in 29 mins.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 20, 2017
Now, it appears the D.C. government has backed that "verbal gov't approval" with an actual, yet noncommittal, permit. However, based on reports in The Washington Post, the permit doesn't do much to shed light on the possible Musk-driven project. Important information, such as how long the digging will take and how much it will cost, is still up in the air.
On Nov. 29, The Boring Company, the tunnel-digging firm founded by Musk, received a building permit from the D.C. Department of Transportation that would allow them to start preparatory and excavation work in a NoMa parking lot at 53 New York Avenue NE. You know, the same parking lot found besides the McDonald's and surrounded by construction cranes.
According to the same Post report, D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser and her team are still working on figuring out what other permits The Boring Company would need to make their NYC-D.C. Hyperloop dreams a reality.
The Boring Company confirms that if all goes as planned, the New York Avenue location could become a station on the proposed East Coast Hyperloop. The Boring Company builds the tunnels needed for the Hyperloop to work, but construction of the actual pods that would transport people in high-speed up and down the East Coast would be done by a different, unknown company.
Maryland has already laid out its plans for the proposed Hyerploop tunnel. Governor Larry Hogan said in October that the tunnel would run under Maryland Route 295.
The permit was first spotted by Will Dean on Feb. 13 on Twitter.
Found a construction staging permit for the @boringcompany in NoMA. I didn’t realize DC officials had agreed to anything. pic.twitter.com/0X8JqG5q1Y
— Will Dean (@whfsdude) February 14, 2018
