Tunnel Vision – Seeing Transit Projects Through

From New York to California, managing complex transit infrastructure projects from design to revenue service demands a careful balance of priorities, budgets, tools and expectations.

United States | Thursday, January 8, 2026
Reading Time : 3:23 minutes

With nearly 30 years at WSP on some of the century’s biggest rail transit projects in New York City, including restoring subway service in lower Manhattan after 9/11, extending the number 7 line to Midtown and ushering the 2nd Avenue extension to construction, Kieran Spillane has built a career on orchestrating technical talent, materials, equipment, budgets and communications to deliver for his clients and the communities they serve. In this Q&A, he discusses his approach to project management, how the job is changing and what success looks like.

A career in engineering presents many paths. Why did you specialize in managing rail tunnel projects?

My career naturally evolved in that direction. When I joined WSP, I was eager to work on large, complex projects and a transit opportunity came along at the right time. I initially started with track design work in New York under the guidance of great mentors, which helped my career blossom. Over the years, I gained exposure to multiple disciplines: geotechnical and structural engineering, architecture and stakeholder relations. That experience taught me how all these systems fit together, especially in the unforgiving confines of subsurface engineering and how to integrate and manage them effectively.

Kieran Spillane

Senior Vice President, Program Management

United States

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Once a project is underway, what are your highest priorities?

There are always competing priorities, but the highest is always to keep the project moving. Avoiding delays is essential because it helps control costs and maintain momentum. That means coordinating schedules, integrating work across disciplines and ensuring clear communication and expectations for every team involved. Priorities will change over the life of a project, but it’s critical to juggle them in a way that keeps things moving forward without pauses.

How do handle unexpected technical challenges on a project?

Working toward a carefully determined budget based on a solid plan, detailed design and a clear scope of work minimizes the number and severity of surprises. On the 7 Line project in New York, for example, preliminary assumptions were that excavation would occur through rock, which set initial estimates for the tunnel boring machine specs, engineering and costs. In the design phase, however, we discovered that parts of the excavation route would encounter soil, a potentially catastrophic development had it not been identified before digging. When the unexpected does arise, clear communication, rapid response and team collaboration are essential to resolve issues quickly and keep the project on track.

How have you seen contract packaging evolve to improve delivery?

Yes. Contract packaging breaks up project delivery into bite-sized pieces, which is especially important for tunnels and underground infrastructure. There are only so many ways to access a tunnel for construction, so dividing the project into separate contracts helps coordinate and control how contractors get the job done with minimal disruption. Smaller contracts also often draw more bids, keeping costs more competitive. It’s always a balancing act finding the right number of contracts to deliver project goals and timelines.

How are digital and AI technologies changing your work?

In today's environment, we rely heavily on building information modeling, so everything is designed in three dimensions. It's an extremely useful tool, especially in underground environments where you have a fixed volume of space and zero opportunity to expand that volume once excavation is complete. Our stations and tunnels bring together architecture, mechanical engineering, plumbing, electrical traction power and more. Digitizing these 3D environments helps prevent a lot of headaches out in the field. AI technologies are helping us improve these designs and quickly identifying clashes between systems, along with solutions. I’m excited to see the continued evolution of these technologies and the benefits they bring to project delivery.

What is your definition of project success?

For me, it’s a little broader than the typical “on time and on budget” answer. The goal in delivering rail transit projects is handing off an operating system that’s ready for its revenue service date. From day one, that’s what I’m focused on, seeing customers walk through the new stations and board trains. My role is to manage schedules, engineers, architects, specialists, contractors, budgets and stakeholders toward that timeline and ultimate revenue service. That’s when I call it a success.