Steve Davis, president and CEO of The Boring Company Photo: Hamilton Matthew Masters Save Officials with the State of Tennessee and Elon Musk's The Boring Company announced details Monday related to a tunnel to connect downtown Nashville and the Nashville International Airport. A release notes a possible fall 2026 opening, but Steve Davis, president and CEO of The Boring Company said at an announcement event Monday afternoon that the tunnel could be operational in about two years. Davis joined Gov. Bill Lee, Metropolitan Airport Authority CEO Doug Kreulen, and U.S. Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy for the announcement at the recently opened Hilton BNA Nashville Airport Terminal. The tunnel will be called the Music City Loop and be undertaken with no cost to taxpayers — which the governor and other officials reiterated several times. Specifically, it will connect BNA to the Music City Center and allow users to get from the airport to the convention facility in eight minutes. The first phase would involve a 10-mile tunnel which is expected to take cues from The Boring Company's Las Vegas tunnel network that allows for fleets of Musk's Tesla electric vehicles to transport passengers. A price tag, start date and estimated number of daily users are not included in the release. However, The Boring Company intends to begin construction immediately following the approvals process. Notably absent from the event, Nashville Mayor Freddie O'Connell issued the following statement: "We are aware of the state's conversations with the Boring Company, and we have a number of operational questions to understand the potential impacts on Metro and Nashvillians." State Rep. Justin Jones (D-Nashville) was not allowed into the announcement event which was considered private and required RSVPs. The discussions between the two parties commenced a few months ago, with subsequent reports having spurred discussion among urban placemaking and planning experts. For example, Eric Hoke, design director at the Civic Design Center, shared his thoughts with the Post (read here). Music City Loop will feature all-electric, zero-emissions, high-speed vehicles, with the system owned and operated by The Boring Company. The system,  according to The Boring Company, will meet or exceed the National Fire Protection Association fire and life standard. The southwest segment of downtown and northeast portion of the airport are located about five miles from one another. “The Boring Company is excited to bring our world class tunneling and transportation capabilities to Tennessee,” Davis said in the release. “We are appreciative and grateful for the continued support and collaboration from the State of Tennessee, and local Nashville community and business leaders.” Music City Loop will represent, to an extent, an alternative to previous Metro plans to connect downtown and the airport. In 2017 and 2018, then-Mayor Megan Barry and her administration crafted a comprehensive $5.4 billion mass transit plan, which included a tunnel transportation system, that failed to materialize after voters rejected it via a referendum. Facebook