Elon Musk’s Las Vegas dreams are expanding

Elon Musk’s Loop transportation project is gaining a little bit more momentum in Las Vegas.

Less than a month ago, Musk’s tunnel company Boring Co. said it had finished digging a pair of tunnels that will link the Las Vegas Convention Center buildings. Now, two Las Vegas Strip hotels are making a bid to be part of the planned transit network.

Wynn Resorts Ltd. and Genting Group submitted applications to authorities in Clark County, Nevada, to connect their hotels to the convention center via Musk’s underground tunnels. Last month, Musk previewed the effort, tweeting “Boring Co. will also connect Vegas hotels & airport.”  A spokesman for McCarran International Airport said there were no current plans to develop a Loop there.

Genting Group’s Resorts World Las Vegas, whose hotel is under construction and is slated to open next year, said it expected construction on its section of the Loop tunnel system would begin later this year, pending approval by county commissioners. The Wynn said in a statement emailed to reporters that  it expected travel time to the convention center would take less than two minutes, but didn’t say when it expected the project to start.

A spokeswoman for Resorts World didn’t respond immediately to a question on how much the project would cost. A spokeswoman for the Wynn said it was premature to confirm additional details. The Boring Co. didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment. 

Like the convention center, both hotels are located in unincorporated Las Vegas, which means they can bypass city approvals because they are not technically within city limits. Last year, Las Vegas Mayor Carolyn Goodman, who sits on the board of the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority, cited Boring Co.’s lack of experience and opposed the project, but was outvoted by the other board members.