General Motors has revealed that the development of one of the largest active automotive safety testing areas in North America is nearly complete at its Milford Proving Ground campus.

The $12 million project broke ground in June 2013 and is scheduled to be fully functional by December of this year.

This newly added, 52-acre facility is specifically designed for developing, testing, and validating Active Safety, or crash avoidance, features. It will include a 16-acre dynamics pad and various road networks to evaluate sensors, algorithms, and the performance of these features, including cutting-edge systems involving autonomous control and vehicle-to-vehicle communication. This facility will help bring active safety technologies to market more quickly for customers, says GM.

The Active Safety Testing Area, or ASTA, will complement the Milford Proving Ground’s vast test capabilities and increase GM’s ability to bring the best new safety technologies to the customer.

Photograph: A 2015 Chevrolet Malibu showcases the Side Blind Zone Alert active safety technology with an approaching 2015 Equinox at all-new Active Safety Testing Area at GM’s Milford Proving Ground.