DORI MONSON

Bertha arrives and Dori Monson gets to keep his job

Apr 4, 2017, 2:25 PM | Updated: 2:43 pm

Bertha...

KIRO Radio's Dori Monson said he would quit his job if the Bertha project came in on time and on budget. (MyNorthwest/WSDOT)

(MyNorthwest/WSDOT)

Washington’s infamous boring machine, Bertha, has finally arrived on the surface in Seattle, but that’s not the only news of the day — Dori Monson gets to keep his job.

Before Bertha headed underground, Seattle’s professional critic predicted that the project would not come in on time or on budget. Dori was so positive of this that he put his own job on the line — promising that if Bertha came in on time and on budget, he would quit his job at KIRO Radio. Officials at the Washington State Department of Transportation even took notice.

RELATED: Seattle reacts to Bertha’s arrival at the surface

“I heard Dori Monson will quit his job on the radio if we bring it in under budget,” said then WSDOT Director Lynn Peterson as Bertha began the job in 2013. “That’s enough incentive for us to bring it in under budget.”

On Tuesday, Bertha arrived three years after it was initially expected; Peterson was fired from her position at WSDOT, and Dori is still on the air.

“Bertha has broken through and has dug this tunnel and I get to keep doing my radio show because she is three years behind schedule, they admit to hundreds of millions over budget – it’s going to end up being a billion in my prediction,” he said.

“All of this means I get to keep my job,” Dori said. “It really is a horrendous project, as tends to be every public project around here.”

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