The Tampa-Hillsborough County Expressway Authority board of directors voted unanimously to replace Pat McCue, the authority's executive director since 1996.

Board Chairman Tom Gibbs said authority members and McCue agreed he should leave. McCue couldn't be reached for a comment.

In exchange for resigning effective Nov. 1, McCue will get a severance package with a year's salary and benefits. He makes $165,000 a year.

Brady Sneath, the authority's chief financial officer, will fill in as director until the board finds a temporary replacement. The authority will do a nationwide search for a permanent director.

Gibbs said the project suffered a series of public relations disasters in recent months, including sunken support piers and the discovery of flawed foundation designs. He said he doesn't think McCue is the right person to resuscitate public confidence.

``It just wasn't going forward as I thought it should,'' he said. ``We need to bring in a new director, someone to oversee the remediation and to get the project back on track.''

Gibbs said his mind was made up Saturday, the same day McCue in a published report accused unnamed officials with the Florida Department of Transportation of lying to Gov. Jeb Bush. The report said McCue claimed those officials were misleading Bush in an effort to discredit him, disband the authority and get FDOT to take over the project. State officials denied those claims.

The governor approves all appointments to the authority's board of directors.

The new elevated road under construction in the Selmon Expressway median to ease traffic congestion between Tampa and Brandon has been billed as an architectural wonder. But after a support pier sank 11 feet in April, then another one dropped just over an inch, public confidence crumbled.

McCue was unwavering in his belief in the wisdom of the project and took on all critics. But he lost some board members' confidence in July after acknowledging the second support pier had sunk, halting construction.

McCue kept his job, but his problems got worse. An independent engineering analysis showed that many of the project's foundations were flawed and must be repaired.

Gibbs praised McCue for his vision, innovation and drive. But he said it's not enough to allay the public's fears.

``With our current engineering problems and eroding public confidence, this agency requires a different set of leadership skills,'' Gibbs said.

The state also seemed to be exerting pressure.

Jose Abreu, FDOT secretary, said in a recent letter to Gibbs that the state won't loan any more money to the expressway authority to finish the project.

Abreu said he wanted the authority to submit a comprehensive engineering and financial plan by November explaining how the agency will straighten out the mess.

The authority owes FDOT more than $153 million in principal and interest on loans used to build the new expressway. The first payments are due next summer.

Authority members plan to repay those loans with a new bond issue to be paid with future toll collections. The bonds were supposed to be offered in April, but that was the same week the first pier collapsed. Officials feared investors would be frightened off, so they decided to hold off until next year.

Sneath said the authority has $32 million in contingency funds. The authority also expects insurance to cover much of the repairs.

The authority also wants URS Corp., which designed the foundations, to pay to fix them. Company officials said they will honor their contractual obligations but won't agree to fix the supports until they know how much work needs to be done and how much it will cost.

McCue had said the contingency funds, insurance reimbursements and URS' contribution should be enough to cover repairs, but the authority might ask the state to for an extension on loan repayments if the repairs drag on. The authority considered asking the state for an additional $15 million, but that's also on hold.

McCue took a hard line with URS during a committee meeting two weeks ago, demanding the company pay for all repair costs and recommending it be stripped of some of its responsibility on the project.

Monday, authority members softened that stance. They now want to negotiate with URS and keep the company as the general engineering consultant.

Reporter Mike Salinero contributed to this report. Reporter Tom Brennan can be reached at (813) 657-4528.