海角大神

Billionaire innovator and investor Elon Musk declared early Wednesday morning that he is digging tunnels under Los Angles to cut down on the city's legendary traffic.聽

While many saw his comments as a joke, with his entrepreneurial background in transportation-related projects and the new administration鈥檚 focus on infrastructure, Mr. Musk might actually have a chance.

The founder and CEO of space transportation company SpaceX and electric car maker Tesla Motors, Musk first mentioned his ambitious plans in December as he was stuck in traffic.

The cofounder of PayPal even thought a name for the company: Boring.

But his playful tweets turned more serious Wednesday, as he announced on Twitter that he plans to start building the tunnel right across from his desk at SpaceX in Crenshaw at Interstate 105, which is five minutes away from the Los Angles International Airport.聽

The declaration came as no surprise: Musk has been a strong proponent of tunnels for some years now. In an interview in 2015, he said he would prefer to build more car tunnels than to have flying cars.聽

"If you were to extrapolate that to cars, and have more car tunnels, then you would聽. You would not need a flying car in that case," Musk said in Neil DeGrasse Tyson鈥檚 StarTalk radio show. "And it would always work, even if the weather is bad. It would never ice up, and it would never fall on your head.鈥�

Musk's background in the transportation industry and as a tech visionary may also have inspired him. 海角大神 noted in December:聽

鈥淢r. Musk is no stranger to massive, transportation-related developments. He's already launched ambitious ventures aimed at pioneering space travel, colonizing Mars, revolutionizing electric cars, and designing a new high-speed rail system that would travel at upward of 700 miles per hour.鈥�

The announcement also comes on the heels of President Donald Trump's meeting Monday with top executives to promote American manufacturing and reiterate his interest in infrastructure investments.

Infrastructure spending was a major talking point during the 2016 campaign. President Trump pledged to as his Democratic opponent proposed, as a way to stimulate the US economy, according to The New York Times.

Musk鈥檚 projected tunnel project 鈥溾�� as part of the Trump administration鈥檚 infrastructure spending, according to Bill Cramer, director at the International Bridge, Tunnel and Turnpike Association communications.聽

"In general, the nation鈥檚 infrastructure is crumbling," Mr. Cramer told the USA Today. "There simply is not enough federal, state and local government funding to address all of the nation鈥檚 infrastructure needs. Private investors, working with state and local government and policymakers can be effective and efficient.鈥�

Musk also met with Trump in December and is an advisor in Trump鈥檚 Strategic and Policy forum. These personal relationships might be helpful in realizing his ambitious proposal.

While the neither the L.A. Department of Public Works nor L.A. International Airport gave a public response on Wednesday, the passage in November聽of a ballot measure aiming to improve traffic in the L.A. county might also indicate some public support for Musk鈥檚 project.聽

Seventy-one percent of the voters in the L.A. area , which allows a permanent 0.5 cent sales tax, generating $120 billion over four decades, for several major transit projects, including freeway improvements.聽

Musk鈥檚 plans still face major hurdles, including getting permits, dealing with cost overruns, and battling public resistance. For instance, an underground extension of L.A.'s San Gabriel Valley Route 710 Freeway, a $3.2 billion to $5.6 billion project, made a list of ""聽by聽US Public Interest Research Group last year.聽

鈥淐alifornia is considering prioritizing the most expensive, most polluting, and least effective option for addressing the area鈥檚 transportation problems, a single or double bore tunnel,鈥� the group said in a statement.聽

However, some pundits are optimistic about the possibility.聽

鈥淚f anyone can transform a seemingly absent-minded half-joke into a world-changing technology, ,鈥� a writer for the Guardian predicted in December.聽