The Gateway Development Commission (GDC) has announced two key appointments for the Hudson Tunnel Project (HTP).
James Starace joins GCD as chief of programme delivery and Hamed Nejad, who has served as acting chief technical officer since September 2024, takes the role of chief engineer.
Starace comes to GDC from HNTB, where he has worked with the New Jersey Turnpike Authority’s programme team on the US$11bn Newark Bay-Hudson County Extension Improvements Programme. He has more than 40 years’ experience delivering large-scale transport projects in the New York/New Jersey region. During his time at the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, Starace held a variety of senior positions, including leading the 550-person Engineering Department for more than seven years as chief engineer.
Starace has worked on many of the region’s most significant infrastructure projects, including the new Goethals Bridge, the Newark Liberty International Airport Terminal A, LaGuardia Airport Redevelopment, the Bayonne Bridge “Raise the Roadway” project, the redevelopment of John F Kennedy Airport, the PATH 9 car programme, the Holland Tunnel Electrical and Mechanical rehabilitation, and construction of the AirTrain Terminal at Jamaica Station.
He will oversee the department responsible for design and construction of the HTP. Starace will also work closely with GDC’s supporting or executing partners – PANYNJ, Amtrak, and NJ Transit – to identify and mitigate risks that could impact the project’s schedule or budget.
In the role of acting chief technical officer, Nejad has overseen work to advance two HTP construction packages past 50% completion: the start of the first tunnel boring project, and the award of the largest HTP construction contract to date.
Prior to joining GDC, Nejad worked on multiple heavy civil construction projects in the US, Australia, and the Middle East, including the Metropolitan Transportation Authority East Side Access programme, the Harold Structures Eastbound Reroute, the I-84 bridge replacements, and the Belt Parkway Bridge project.
GDC commissioners and co-chairs Alicia Glen and Balpreet Grewal-Virk and vice-chair Tony Coscia said the HTP was not only the most urgent passenger rail project in the country, but it was also one of the largest and most complex.
“We need the best of the best leading the way. Jim brings deep experience working on many of the most significant infrastructure projects on both sides of the Hudson River, and we are thrilled to welcome someone with his background and expertise to the project. His experience will be critical as we continue to advance construction in the years ahead,” they said.
GDC CEO Tom Prendergast said a generational project of the HTP’s magnitude and complexity required “top-notch engineering talent”.
“I have full faith that Jim and Hamed will get this incredibly important project done right, and on scope, schedule, and budget,” he said.
