By rosebell
In order to advancing the Hudson Tunnel Project (HTP), the Gateway Development Commission (GDC) has announced two key appointments.
The chief of program delivery is James Starace and joins GCD and Hamed Nejad, who has served as acting chief technical officer since September 2024, takes the role of chief engineer.
While being worked with the New Jersey Turnpike Authority’s program team on the US$11bn Newark Bay-Hudson County Extension Improvements Program, Starace comes to GDC from HNTB and he has more over 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.
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 program, the Holland Tunnel Electrical and Mechanical rehabilitation, as well as construction of the AirTrain Terminal at Jamaica Station, Starace has worked on many of the region’s most significant infrastructure projects.
Also responsibility for design and construction of the HTP will be up to him, whereas Starace will 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.
Comprising the start of the first tunnel boring project, and the award of the largest HTP construction contract to date, in the role of acting chief technical officer, Nejad has overseen work to advance two HTP construction packages past 50% completion.
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 program, the Harold Structures Eastbound Reroute, the I-84 bridge replacements, and the Belt Parkway Bridge project.
According to GDC commissioners and co-chairs Alicia Glen and Balpreet Grewal-Virk and vice-chair Tony Coscia: “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.”
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.”
