Advanced driving testing facility to be built at UConn’s Depot Campus

The University of Connecticut’s long-abandoned Depot Campus will soon be the home to a state-of-the-art driving facility, acting as the testing ground for driverless cars and various other smart vehicle technologies with its acquisition by venture firm, Promesa Capital LLC. 

The Board of Trustees approved the sale of 15 acres to Promesa at their latest meeting on Sept. 25, striking a deal of $1.5 million and granting the go-ahead to a project that has been in the planning phase since its initial 2019 proposal. Although original plans outlined the acquisition of 105 acres, this was later reduced due to negative implications on the surrounding wetland ecosystem. After five years in deliberation, the program’s drafters are excited to move forward. 

“This new test track facility will allow for us (and students) to build out the future of [autonomous vehicle] tech in stages and explore some of the challenges and opportunities to improve safety for the traveling public,” said UConn professor Eric Jackson, who serves as the executive director of the Connecticut Transportation Institute. 

Jackson partnered with Promesa’s Steve Cortese to make their shared vision a reality under a collaborative effort titled Spectrum Park. “With a consortium of like-minded partners,” states the Spectrum Park website, “we can create a living lab environment to foster an innovative ecosystem for future workforce development.” 

The duo is in talks with various industry forces for development and investment in their facility, a necessary step for a project with an estimated price tag of $15 million. 

“We have talked with a number of manufacturers in this space and the smart city arena.  From car manufactures, to infrastructure, to 5G, cybersecurity, sensors, and software,” noted Jackson, “We can’t release the names of those companies at this time.” 

Depot Campus, once the location of the controversial Mansfield Training School, has been largely vacant since the early 2000s. Although the grounds are currently used in a limited capacity by UConn’s Puppetry Institute, plans to convert the dilapidated site into a “Connected and Autonomous Vehicle Test Track, Smart City and Research Facility,” will soon be underway, per the Board of Trustees’ brief. 

The project’s timeline is not yet confirmed, but Jackson assured that tests have already begun and will grow rapidly in the near future. 

“We already have some opportunities to test out car related infrastructure on the Depot Campus and did so this summer with the structural engineering group in civil and environmental engineering on an experimental wrong way rumble strip that would alert cars that they are traveling the wrong direction on the off ramp,” stated Jackson. “So, testing does not have to wait for 100% completion of the facility.” 

The so-called “CAV Smart City” is hoped to serve as a stimulus for the educational, technological and financial interests of all those involved.  

“Through sponsored research and startup companies, we hope that a facility like this will lead to opportunities that students will not have at other universities,” commented Jackson. “This will enable an undergraduate and graduate research experience unique to UConn that will build not only a diverse hands-on educational experience but lead to demand for UConn students and innovative projects and new companies to be formed.”