Cavnue, a Ford-backed company, plans to build self-driving car lanes on the I-94 freeway in Michigan.

A startup company called Cavnue is working with the Michigan Department of Transportation to build 25 miles of I-94 with lanes for self-driving cars. [Washington, D.C.-based Cavnue, which raised $130 million in its most recent funding round, including an investment from Ford, is developing what it calls a connected corridor. Based on technologies such as vehicle-to-infrastructure communications, the corridor will help guide cars and trucks in high-traffic areas and move them more efficiently.

According to Cavnue, vehicles equipped with automatic steering and braking systems can be guided along the corridor faster and closer than human drivers can safely do on normal roads because vehicles in the corridor are constantly communicating with each other and the surrounding infrastructure. According to the company, this technology can also be equipped on roads where both automated and conventional vehicles can travel.

The first planned section of Cavnue's Connected Corridor is between Detroit and Ann Arbor. Lessons learned from this project will be used to further evaluate deployment on Michigan Avenue and the potential for growing the network of corridors connecting Southeast Michigan. If successful, it could be further expanded statewide.

With Ford as a major backer, Cavnue will use Ford vehicles and the automaker's own self-driving systems to develop and demonstrate the connected corridor. Cavnue will also work with Ford to determine the standards needed by the OEMs, including message definitions, sensing requirements, and protocols.

Cavnue has not indicated when construction of the first connected corridor will begin.