COLLEGE STATION, Texas (KRHD) — Texas A&M is exploring partnering with Elon Musk’s Boring Company to develop an underground tunnel system that aims to reduce campus traffic and improve transportation efficiency.
- The proposed tunnel system would connect the Main, East, and West campuses, drastically reducing travel time.
- Texas A&M’s student body has grown significantly, prompting a recommendation to pause undergraduate enrollment due to infrastructure strain.
- The tunnel project, led by Chief Operating Officer and Senior Vice President Peter Lange, would be a massive undertaking, with a mix of above-ground and underground stations, and a major hub at the Memorial Student Center.
- Lange says “dollar-wise it would probably be bigger than anything that we've built recently.”
- The school has not approved the project; it is still in the early developing stage.
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Texas A&M University is considering a groundbreaking solution to address the heavy traffic on and around campus, offering faster transit options for students. The idea is to cut down travel time significantly.
“You could make it from one side of the campus to the other in about four minutes, going around 40 miles an hour,” said Chief Operating Officer and Senior Vice President Peter Lange. He says currently, "it's borderline impossible to get from the front of campus to West Campus in under 20 minutes."
This concern is one of the driving forces behind the new project. Lange is spearheading a proposal to partner with Elon Musk’s Boring Company to build an underground tunnel system connecting the university's Main, East, and West campuses.
“It would be a massive, massive project the size this community hasn't seen. And actually, come to think of it, you probably wouldn't see very much of it, because most of it would be underground. But it'd be really special," Lange said of his role in the project.
The proposed tunnel system would be closed to the general public, operating solely for university-related transit through Boring Company vehicles and drivers. This initiative comes as a response to a recent capacity study, which suggests pausing undergraduate enrollment for the next five years due to infrastructure limitations.
“When I arrived on campus in 2003, the student body was around 48,000. Now, we’re up to 72,000-75,000 students. That’s a huge increase, and we’re feeling it,” Lange added.
The tunnel would run 30 feet underground, with above-ground and subterranean stations, and a major hub located at the Memorial Student Center. However, Lange notes that the tunnel is just one part of a larger solution: “There is no silver bullet. It will take multiple pieces coming together to address the university’s growth and transportation challenges.”