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The news comes just days after Ontario’s Transportation Minister Jeff Yurek announced that the province would allow unoccupied autonomous vehicles on public roads.

According to Knoxdale-Merivale Ward Coun. Keith Egli, who was previously chair of the city’s transportation committee, city crews have been quietly working at the facility to add stop signs, street markings, street lights and other real-world traffic controls.

“I think it’s very important that we have a facility in Ottawa where we can test the vehicles and make sure that they are working properly and safely,” said Egli. “Our traffic services partners have been working to make it a real functioning site.

“They are working to make a standard road network with traffic control, signs, roadway markings. It in every way will mimic a general use road, which of course is what you want to have.”

According to Invest Ottawa, a more formal grand opening and demonstrations of the facility and its cars are being planned for March.

OTTwp

While the intersections and roadways are ready now, future development on the site includes a 5.2-km “high speed” test loop for the vehicles, according to plans on Ottawa L5’s website.

While the location for the facility is new — previous attempts to allow driverless cars to roam free in Ottawa had been limited to Kanata North — the initiative was initially announced in May, when Invest Ottawa revealed a $5-million grant to the project by the Autonomous Vehicle Innovation Network (AVIN) Program. Actual investment in the facility is expected to be far higher — several large technology firms have installed millions of dollars worth of new communications technology.