Senator: Boring Company begins tunneling; lawmakers debate new road funding and choice lanes

Sen. Jack Johnson said The Boring Company has started drilling for the Music City Loop and that the project has received its final permit, marking a notable step toward an underground connection between downtown Nashville and Nashville International Airport. "They started digging day before yesterday," Johnson said, and officials have "been granted their final permit just this week."

The project's initial leg is planned as an eight-mile route under Murphy'sboro Road, with developers mapping station sites including a terminal at the airport. Johnson described current boring speed at roughly a mile a month with company goals to improve that to as fast as "a mile a week." He said legislation he advanced would create a governing authority to oversee subterranean transit projects and include cabinet-level appointees and legislative appointments.

At the same forum, lawmakers weighed new road funding and financing tools. Johnson highlighted the governor's transportation proposal that includes a one-time $400 million contribution and a $25 million recurring line item for road maintenance and projects. "When you add it all up ... we are right at about $5 billion additional money into the road fund," he said, citing recent transportation measures and redirected revenues.

Private-sector and industry voices underscored limits on borrowing without dedicated revenue. Kent Starwald, identified as an executive vice president of the Tennessee Road Builders, said bonding makes sense "if and only if there's a new dedicated funded source for it," warning that using existing gas-tax or registration revenues to pay debt service would merely shift money away from the program it is meant to support.

Panelists also discussed choice lanes (express lanes) as a potential source of capacity and revenue. Johnson and others pointed to out-of-state examples where public-private partnerships and project monetization generated substantial up-front funds, noting a Georgia example where a private partner both built and advanced funds to the state. "There is opportunity there with these public private partnerships," a panelist said, adding that such deals can be revenue-accretive on day one.

What happens next: Johnson said legislation to set up the governing authority advanced from his commerce committee and that the state will continue monitoring the project and related permitting. Officials said road funding proposals will proceed through committee processes and reconciliation with the governor's budget request.