Elon Musk applies for permits to tunnel from Westwood to Hawthorne

As Thanksgiving traffic rears its ugly head, Elon Musk is moving forward with his (bad) solution for LA’s notorious gridlock. The Tesla and SpaceX founder officially filed an application for permits last week to start digging a tunnel in the city of Los Angeles, the Los Angeles Times reports.

A spokesperson for the Boring Company, the tunneling startup Musk founded earlier this year, tells the Times that the route would run along the 405 freeway from Westwood to Hawthorne, with a few stops along the way.

A video posted by the Boring Company earlier this year show how the tunnel would work. Musk eventually envisions a network of tunnels throughout the city.

He already has approval to burrow a two-mile tunnel beneath the city of Hawthorne. That tunnel will start beneath a parking lot owned by Space X and extend north before turning west around Crenshaw Boulevard and continuing below 120th Street to Hawthorne Boulevard.

Musk says the private tunnels—which would carry pedestrians and cyclists, in addition to cars—will save Angelenos from the “soul-destroying” menace of traffic.

But many experts are critical. They say that making more space for cars to move on—and under—the streets would encourage more people to drive. Such was the case when the 405 was widened; more space was created, but travel times on the freeway did not improve.

• Elon Musk's tunneling company wants to dig through L.A. [LA Times]
• Elon Musk unveils more details on his tunnel solution for LA traffic [Curbed LA]
• Elon Musk’s tunnel idea is sounding more like public transit every day [Curbed]
• Elon Musk's tunnel plan is surprisingly outdated—and bad [Curbed]