Kyle council approves pedestrian tunnel agreement with the Boring Company

Kyle City Council entered a professional services agreement with the Boring Company, TBC, to begin work on a railroad pedestrian underpass beneath train tracks south of Kyle Parkway and FM 1626.

The city expects the tunnel will provide easy connectivity between the Plum Creek subdivision and Kyle Crossing, a vertical mixed-use development with retail and dining.

“This is a project that has been worked on for several years with the Kyle Crossing developers,” City Manager Scott Sellers said. “The project took on the form of a trail-oriented development, meaning the entire project is being built to really accentuate the citizen trail system that is being designed right now. The Vybe trail network is roughly 80 miles and will bring residents from every neighborhood in the city into our commercial and public parks areas.”

Created by Elon Musk, founder of Tesla and SpaceX, TBC creates fast-to-dig, and low-cost transportation, utility and freight tunnels. The proposed pedestrian tunnel will also accommodate bicycles, scooters or golf carts.

TBC, which is headquartered in Pflugerville, will begin preliminary work at the site within the next 45 days. Once a site assessment and Geotech data is collected, a proposal will be presented to Union Pacific to satisfy safety measures, according to the company’s engineering proposal.

“We believe there will be minimal to no disruption at all to the surface development,” Sellers said. “The tunnel is planned to be 12 feet in diameter, with a 10-foot wide path, lighting and cameras.”

Project funding comes from an agreement with the developers. TBC agreed to front $50,000 for the professional services agreement. An expected guaranteed maximum price of $3 million dollars is also set aside from a private developer. Taxpayer dollars are not anticipated to be used, according to the city.

Councilmember Michael Tobias brought up concerns from his district residents.

“Once again, this is benefiting a specific part of town,” Tobias said. “You’re giving to the people of Plum Creek; the people of the uptown area. The people of East Kyle once again feel left out when we’re doing these types of projects.”

“I would say that it does benefit the residents of East Kyle,” Councilmember Dex Ellison said. “The idea with this whole Vybe network is to get people across our city, no matter where you are, without having an automobile. And the great thing is the city is not paying for it; it’s the developer. If it were on the east side, it’d be the same thing and mindset for me, at least.”

Sellers said completion of the tunnel is expected two months from the start of construction.