Nashville’s Music City Center Approves Boring Co. Tunnel Project

Elon Musk’s The Boring Company has taken a significant step forward in its plans for the Music City Loop, an ambitious underground transportation system set to connect key locations across Nashville. In August 2025, the company officially proposed adding the downtown Nashville convention center to the route, just one week after the initial plan to link Nashville International Airport with the Music City Center was announced.

On March 24, the Nashville Convention Center Authority approved an easement agreement with The Boring Co., granting the company permission to tunnel beneath the west side of the building along 8th Avenue S. This decision marks a crucial milestone in the project’s development.

“Based on the planned tunnel route, we anticipated this need, but we also wanted more information,” said Charles Starks, President and Chief Executive Officer of Music City Center. “Getting our questions answered directly by The Boring Co. helped us move forward with this agreement.”

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Despite the progress, uncertainties still surround the extent of Music City Center’s involvement in the project. While The Boring Co. received its final necessary approvals for the Music City Loop construction from state and federal officials in February, the company must still secure written permission from the owners of any private property it intends to tunnel under.

Another vote by the Convention Center Authority is required before The Boring Co. can proceed with building a station at Music City Center. Although Starks has been in contact with Boring Co. officials since before the project was publicly announced, a second vote is still needed before a station can be constructed.

“We look forward to having more discussions with them to determine if a tunnel station is the right fit for our facility,” Starks said. He previously stated that the board would be “crazy” to ignore the opportunity as the Loop comes so close to the convention center.

Music City Center was one of the Loop’s earliest targets for a station, given its central location along the proposed 9.5-mile route through downtown. However, Musk’s team has since expanded the plan to include over 20 additional stations in Nashville, with potential extensions to Knoxville and Memphis.

“We would certainly love to engage with the Music City Center as a part of the system,” said David Buss, Vice President of The Boring Company, in August 2025. “We think there’s an incredible amount of value.”

Still, some members of the Convention Center Authority have raised concerns about Musk’s business strategy, the practicality of the tunnel for local residents, and safety issues.

“This has a big public relations impact for us,” said board member Seema Prasad in August. “We have to be very careful of how we support or don’t support it. There’s a lot that’s still to be decided.”

Meanwhile, other board members, such as Dee Patel, have expressed strong support for the project.

“I think if we can take the friction off of our roads and have an effortless, easy commute, I think that helps all of us,” Patel said in a December panel with The Boring Co. “I think disruptive technology, by nature, has lots of questions around it, and I think it often opens up the door for us to be innovative.”

As the project moves forward, the balance between innovation and caution remains a central theme in the ongoing discussions. The success of the Music City Loop will depend not only on technical feasibility but also on the willingness of stakeholders to embrace change and address concerns head-on.