A test bed area for autonomous cars will be built west of Seoul by the end of next year to put test vehicles through real world road and traffic conditions, the transport ministry said Tuesday.

Groundbreaking for K-City will be held on Wednesday in Hwaseong, Gyeonggi Province, to build the 320,000 square-meter facility for 11 billion won ($9.77 million), according to the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport. 

The facility will have simulated roads that like highways, downtown areas, city outskirts and communal environments and have 35 different driving conditions such toll gates, tunnels, intersections, construction sites and even train track crossings, ministry officials said.
 

Pot holes, narrow streets and pedestrian crossings have also been added for testing the vehicles, as well as Wifi and fourth-generation wireless technologies.

The section for highway driving will be completd by end of October and the entire K-city by end of next year, officials said. The area will be opened to private companies, academic institutions and startups to test their products.

South Korea is scheduled to open part of its highways to autoomous cars from 2020. (Yonhap)