Gateway Board Forms Search Committee for CEO to Lead $16B Tunnel Project

Gateway Development Commission CEO Kris Kolluri plans to step down from the role in October.
*Photo by Don Pollard/Office of New York Gov. Kathy Hochul*

The Gateway Development Commission, which leads the $16.1-billion Hudson Tunnel Project between New Jersey and New York, has launched a board search committee focused on finding a new chief executive to lead the organization, it announced Aug. 14.

The committee includes Alicia Glen, New York commissioner and co-chair; Balpreet Grewal-Virk, New Jersey commissioner and co-chair; and Tony Coscia, Amtrak commissioner and vice chair.

“We are undertaking a national search and will engage an executive search firm as part of that process,” the three said in a joint statement.

Current CEO Kris Kolluri announced last month that he is resigning from his role after accomplishing his goals of securing full funding for the Hudson River rail tunnel project and getting it to the start of construction. He will be stepping down in October.

The Federal Transit Administration awarded a $6.9-billion capital investment grant to GDC for the tunnel project last month, which officials said was the final piece of funding needed to complete it. GDC selected MPA Delivery Partners earlier this year to be its project delivery partner providing various management services and technical expertise. Construction on some portions of the project is already underway, and the GDC board voted Aug. 1 to approve a $465.6-million contract with Schiavone Dragados Lane JV for the first portion of tunneling on the New Jersey side.

“Kris Kolluri has been an incredible leader of the Gateway Development Commission, ensuring GDC has the organizational capacity, capability and funding to see the Hudson Tunnel Project to completion,” the search committee members added.

GDC plans to post the job listing on its website in the near future, a spokesperson says.

The commission was jointly formed by both states to lead passenger rail infrastructure projects on a stretch of the Northeast Corridor line between Newark, N.J., and Manhattan. The Northeast Corridor is the most-used passenger rail line in the U.S., carrying more than 800,000 passenger trips daily.

The program includes the $1.7-billion Portal North Bridge in New Jersey, managed by New Jersey Transit.

The new tunnel is scheduled to open in 2035.

James Leggate is an government news correspondent at ENR. He has reported on a variety of issues for more than 10 years and his work has contributed to several regional Associated Press Media Editors and Murrow award wins.