Nevada Regents Approve Boring Company’s Vegas Loop Tunnel Under UNLV

The Nevada System of Higher Education Board of Regents unanimously approved a land easement on Friday, allowing The Boring Company to build a Vegas Loop tunnel beneath UNLV property, moving the university one step closer to joining the underground transportation network.

The board authorized Chancellor Joseph Damjanovic to finalize and sign the easement agreement and gave Interim President Chris Heavey the go-ahead to grant a subsurface easement to The Boring Company, granting it the right to construct and operate the tunnel under university grounds. Under the terms, The Boring Company will pay UNLV $1,000, cover roughly $25,000 in legal and administrative costs, and install a Vegas Loop station on campus at no cost to the university or the state system. In exchange, UNLV will relinquish future use of the underground strip of land.

"We're a large engineering firm in your backyard, so internships and full-time jobs, and certainly reduced fees for students, and then finally a very safe and convenient transportation system for their campus," said Tyler Fairbanks, a project developer for The Boring Co., about the benefits the station will bring to UNLV and its students.

The planned station would sit near the Thomas & Mack Center and connect the campus to destinations including the Las Vegas Convention Center, Allegiant Stadium, and potentially Harry Reid International Airport and the Las Vegas Medical District. No timeline for completion has been announced.

Separately, Westgate Las Vegas posted a video update on March 10, touting ongoing Vegas Loop tunnel construction near the resort and saying it will be the first station connecting directly to the airport once the Airport Connector is finished.

While most board members spoke positively about the project, Regent Amy Carvalho raised concerns about safety issues The Boring Company has faced in other parts of the city, including incidents involving chemical burns sustained by Clark County firefighters in the tunnels.

"I hope that The Boring Co. will continue to do what's right and make sure that their workers are protected and that UNLV is held harmless from any issues," Carvalho said during the meeting.