The Pawlenty administration&8217;s little experiment to save $108,000 by making the lieutenant governor the transportation commissioner has failed.

It is time for Carol Molnau to resign as the leader of the Minnesota Department of Transportation. The Interstate 35W bridge fell on her watch. The buck stops squarely at her desk.

Resigning is not about taking blame. It&8217;s about taking responsibility. She needs to do what&8217;s right for Minnesota.

She opposed the funding measures that would have paid for the repairs to Minnesota&8217;s infrastructure. Newspaper reports say when MnDOT advisers told her of needed repairs to the 35W bridge, she ordered them to find cheaper options for the &8220;structurally deficient&8221; Interstate 35W bridge.

The department needs a commissioner who has experience in civil engineering and transportation logistics. It needs a leader who is an advocate for transportation, not a farmer from Lafayette who pretty much needs an interpreter for the engineering reports she receives. Or doesn&8217;t receive, for she is not involved in the details like her predecessors and, opponents say, has been noticeably absent from her MnDOT office.

The head of the Minnesota Department of Transportation needs to be someone who understands what happens when you fail to maintain infrastructure.

In 1984, Minnesota Transportation Commissioner Richard Braun shut down the old St. Paul High Bridge because he felt, as a newspaper said, &8220;it might collapse into the Mississippi River.&8221; That bridge was replaced.

That took guts, but it also took expertise.

In hindsight, spending the $108,000 on a qualified leader might have saved the state a lot of money, and a few lives, too.

Molnau might be tough, but if she truly is a strong person, she would have the strength to step aside.