WWII Bomber Site Gears Up for Driverless Demos in December

WWII Bomber Site Gears Up for Driverless Demos in December
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Self-driving cars will begin taking test laps this December on the site of a famous World War II airplane factory in Michigan, according to Bloomberg.

Driverless cars will race at speeds of up to 70 miles per hour around a 2.5-mile loop that includes a triple-decker overpass, a 700-foot tunnel and a decommissioned federal highway. The test track, known as the American Center for Mobility, is under construction on the grounds of the former Willow Run factory that was a critical cog in Detroit’s famed Arsenal of Democracy during World War II.

The facility is one of 10 test beds around the country the U.S. has designated as official sites for validating driverless technology. Automakers, suppliers and technology companies will share the $110 million facility to accelerate the arrival of autonomous cars. Eventually, the 500-acre center will feature fake suburban neighborhoods, rural country roads and urban streets with robot pedestrians darting into traffic. The test track will include a full-size freeway interchange with looping on and off ramps.

Earth movers and front loaders are now building bridges and overpasses on the vast site where the factory was leveled a few years ago. The test track spills out onto the adjoining U.S. 12 highway, where autonomous test cars will take over two eastbound lanes as regular traffic is rerouted to the westbound lanes on a 1.5-mile section of the lightly traveled roadway.

Detroit and Silicon Valley, vying for supremacy over autonomous autos, each have official test sites in their backyards. GoMentum Station, a decommissioned Naval base in Concord, California, also was named an official test site. There, 20 miles of roads weave around empty barracks, a mess hall, gymnasium and bowling alley.