Big Dig - Big News

Matthew Amorello, the embattled chairman of the Massachusetts Turnpike Authority has resigned. As more and more construction and engineering flaws are revealed in the Big Dig project, it was inevitable that he would lose his job, the only question was how. The agreement reached between Amorello and governor Romney at least spares the state a massive legal battle to oust Amorello.

BOSTON - The Massachusetts Turnpike Authority chairman, under fire since 12 tons of falling ceiling panels killed a motorist in a Big Dig highway tunnel, agreed Thursday to resign after weeks of pressure from the governor.

Matthew Amorello's resignation will be effective Aug. 15, but he will continue to receive his $223,000 annual salary through Feb. 15.

"I think this is good news for the commonwealth, the right step for Matt Amorello to have taken," Gov. Mitt Romney said Thursday. "Clearly it will save the taxpayers and the rate-payers the cost of an extensive legal battle, and it also allows the citizens and toll-payers to have confidence again in the Turnpike Authority."

Lawyers for Amorello and Romney hammered out details of his resignation late Wednesday, after Supreme Judicial Court Justice Francis X. Spina ruled Romney could go forward with the administrative process to remove Amorello.

The governor said he would look for a new Turnpike Authority chairman outside the political arena but had no specific candidate and no timetable.

"I want somebody who knows how the wheels of automobiles and trucks turn and how engineers can do a fine job finishing the work of the Big Dig," he said.

Amorello's family owned a construction company, but Amorello made his career in politics. He was elected to the state Senate in 1990 and served four terms before losing a bid for Congress. In 2002, he was appointed to head the Turnpike Authority by Romney's predecessor.

Romney, a fellow Republican now considering a run for president, has long been critical of Amorello and repeatedly called on him to step down.

After the deadly July 10 ceiling panel collapse, Romney seized control over tunnel inspections from Amorello's agency and began legal efforts to oust him.

The $14.6 billion Big Dig highway project had already been troubled by leaks and cost overruns, but the collapse and the discovery of other loose ceiling bolts heightened concerns about the very safety of the tunnels.

I suspect there are a lot of relieved people in state government. A legal battle might have cast even more light onto the project's oversight flaws.