Gateway Development Commission (GDC) CEO Kris Kolluri is stepping down from his role leading the bistate agency overseeing the $16 billion Hudson Tunnel Project.

The news was first reported by Colleen Wilson of NorthJersey.com and confirmed by NJBIZ.

Kolluri submitted his resignation in a July 18 letter to the GDC commissioners, with his last day set for Aug. 16.

“Two years ago today, based on the recommendation of Governors Phil Murphy and Kathy Hochul, you unanimously voted to appoint me as the Gateway Development Commission‘s first Chief Executive Officer and tasked me with building our technical capacity, securing federal funding, and starting major construction,” Kolluri wrote. “We built an organization from the ground up and recruited extraordinary and committed people to work on the Hudson Tunnel Project. The progress we have made together is historic, meaningful, and measurable.”

The surprising twist – in a summer full of them here in New Jersey – comes less than two weeks after the project secured a $6.88 billion Full Funding Grant Agreement. With that historic federal funding from the Federal Transit Administration announced during a signing ceremony in Manhattan, the project has now secured the entire commitment needed to complete it. Federal government and local project partners (New Jersey, New York, and the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey) split the costs 70/30.

The progress we have made together is historic, meaningful, and measurable.
– Kris Kolluri, Gateway Development Commission CEO

“After years of planning and persistence, the Hudson Tunnel Project’s days of uncertainty are finally behind us,” said Kolluri during that July 8 event. “For 23 months, we worked tirelessly to complete the funding puzzle for this vital project. Today we have secured the funding needed to see this project through.”

As NJBIZ has reported, the effort has taken a number of steps forward over the last year-plus.

‘The right time’

“We have executed all governance agreements, signed the Full Funding Grant Agreement, closed on the largest Railroad Rehabilitation and Improvement Financing package ever approved, and started construction on both sides of the Hudson River – with the Palisades Tunnel construction contract award to be considered by the board in short order,” Kolluri continued in the letter. “Given the anticipated start of major tunnel construction this fall, it is the right time for me to step down and let the next leader oversee the construction phase of HTP.”

Kolluri noted how personal this mission was for him. He pointed to his time leading the New Jersey Department of Transportation, as well as advancing the ARC Tunnel Project — a previously scrapped iteration.

“The task at GDC was to work with the team to take HTP further than ARC Tunnel had ever advanced, i.e., secured by full funding, to build a coalition and framework for management of the Hudson Tunnel Project between the states and Amtrak, and to start major construction in New Jersey and New York,” Kolluri wrote. “We have reached that moment. Today, the most urgent infrastructure project in the country is at a point of no return.”

The project includes a new tunnel, slated to be in service by 2035. The full rehabilitation of the existing rail tunnel is expected by 2038. MPA Delivery Partners (a joint venture of Mace, Parsons Corp., and Arcadis) will deliver the project.

“It has been a privilege to work on the nation’s most consequential infrastructure project,” Kolluri closed his letter. “I look forward to seeing you and the team at GDC complete HTP.”

GDC has not released any further information about a potential successor and next steps.

This story is developing – please stay with NJBIZ for further details and reaction.