The first of two tunnels being built by the Boring Co. for the Las Vegas Convention Center is nearing the halfway point and is on track to be complete for CES 2021.

Media get a first glimpse at a tunnel boring machine at the future location of one of the underground people mover stations just east of the South Hall at the Las Vegas Convention Center on Friday, Nov. 15, 2019, in Las Vegas. (Benjamin Hager/Las Vegas Review-Journal) @benjaminhphoto

High-occupancy autonomous electric vehicles would run between exhibit halls at the Las Vegas Convention Center. (The Boring Company)

Media get a first glimpse at a tunnel boring machine at the future location of one of the underground people mover stations just east of the South Hall at the Las Vegas Convention Center on Friday, Nov. 15, 2019, in Las Vegas. (Benjamin Hager/Las Vegas Review-Journal) @benjaminhphoto

The first of two tunnels being built by the Boring Co. for the Las Vegas Convention Center is nearing the halfway point and is on track to be complete for CES 2021.

About 1,900 feet of the 4,300-foot-long tunnel has been dug in the seven weeks since the project’s kickoff, according to Steve Hill, CEO of the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority. Crews should be finished digging the first tunnel sometime next month, Hill said.

The $52.5 million project is slated to be complete and be ready for the January 2021 CES show, although work is not occurring as CES 2020 takes place this week, Hill said.

“We’re not operating during CES, so we won’t make progress this week,” Hill told the Las Vegas Review-Journal. “Making sure that show happens is our highest priority, but we’re on schedule.”

Once the expansion project is complete, the dual tunnel system will transport conventiongoers between the three main halls of the Las Vegas Convention Center in Tesla model vehicles.

As the tunnel is being dug, the liners are being installed simultaneously. Once work crews finish digging the tunnel, they’ll go back in and pave the road the Teslas will travel on, according to Hill.

“That will happen in February when we finish the first tunnel and start the second tunnel,” he said.

The goal of being ready for CES 2021 isn’t 100 percent firm, Hill said, as focusing on this year’s conventions will take priority.

“We’re still on track for that, but if there’s a choice of taking care of our customers and making sure these tunnels and the whole system is ready, we’re going to choose our customers,” he said.

Once the tunnels and the ramps coming out of each end are complete, safety testing will occur. Hill expects that to begin sometime in late summer, wrapping up toward the end of the year.

The original long term goal was to possibly expand the Boring Co. tunnel into the resort corridor and toward the airport and Allegiant Stadium. Now, Hill said reaching into outlying suburbs is also a possibility.

“We would like to connect all of Southern Nevada with system over time,” he said. “It’d be a great thing to bring people in-and-out of the resort corridor to work in a more efficient, easier, quicker way. That would also help reduce congestion on the Strip as well as help everybody in the community that works on the Strip.”

Contact Mick Akers at makers@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2920. Follow @mickakers on Twitter.