The Gateway Development Commission announced July 29 at the commission’s board meeting that James Starace will join GDC as chief of program delivery in August. Hamed Nejad, who has served as acting chief technical officer since September 2024, will transition into the role of chief engineer.
As chief of program delivery, Starace will oversee the department responsible for design and construction of the Hudson Tunnel Project. He will lead all aspects of remaining design and engineering, construction, interface management, and other technical work areas.
Starace will also work closely with GDC’s supporting or executing partners (SEPs) – PANYNJ, Amtrak, and NJ TRANSIT – to identify and proactively mitigate risks that could impact the project’s schedule or budget. Starace will serve on GDC’s executive leadership team and will report directly to the CEO.
In his new role as chief engineer, Nejad, reporting to the chief of program delivery, will continue to play a key role overseeing technical elements of project design and construction, including design review, value engineering, quality control, permitting and environmental compliance, and safety and construction management.
GDC Chief Executive Officer Tom Prendergast said, “A generational project of this magnitude and complexity requires top-notch engineering talent. Jim brings 40 years of experience to the table from his tenure at the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, including the new Goethals Bridge, Newark Liberty International Airport Terminal A, and the AirTrain Terminal at Jamaica Station.”
“Hamed, who has been acting in the role of chief technical officer since last year, has played a key role in advancing multiple packages through procurement and into construction,” Prendergast continued. “I have full faith that Jim and Hamed will get this incredibly important project done right, and on scope, schedule, and budget.”
Starace was working with the New Jersey Turnpike Authority’s program team on the $11 billion Newark Bay-Hudson County Extension Improvements Program. He has more than 40 years of experience delivering large-scale transportation projects in the New York/New Jersey region. During his tenure at the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, Starace led the 550-person engineering department for more than seven years as chief engineer.
He 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, and the redevelopment of John F. Kennedy Airport.
Nejad has served as acting chief technical officer since September 2024. During this time, he 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 across the U.S., Australia, and the Middle East.
The Hudson Tunnel Project between New York and New Jersey is the construction of the $16 billion, 2.4-mile Hudson River Rail Tunnel is part of Phase 1 of the Gateway Program, intended to improve and expand rail service in the Northeast Corridor, the most heavily traveled passenger rail line in the country.
The Hudson Tunnel Project includes a new double-track tunnel between the Bergen Palisades in New Jersey and Manhattan in New York City, the rehabilitation of the North River Tunnel (NRT) damaged by Superstorm Sandy, and the creation of a concrete casing at Hudson Yards to allow the new tunnel to connect to New York-Penn Station.
