Fear and loathing in Boston.

I’m afraid of my city. Not because of the rising murder rate or the fact that the terrorists responsible for flying planes into the Twin Towers on 9/11 took off from Logan Airport. I’m afraid of my city because of a little $14-billion project called The Big Dig.

Over the last decade, the Big Dig has exceeded its budget and surpassed its deadlines. To residents of Boston, the project is a joke and basically, we think it’s never going to be finished. Especially if its workers keep cutting corners, something that became horribly evident Monday night.

Milena Del Valle had just returned home to Jamaica Plain from a long day working at the Mississippi’s Restaurant in Roxbury and was enjoying a heartfelt foot rub from her adoring husband of 16-months, Angel. A few minutes later, Angel said he had to leave for the Airport to pick up his brother and insisted his exhausted wife stay home. But Milena is fully aware of her husband’s tendency to get lost and the concerned wife didn’t want Angel driving out late alone. Little did she know, in just a few short minutes, he’d be alone forever.

While driving their Honda through the I-90 connector tunnel that leads to Logan airport around 11 p.m. Monday, the couple watched in horror as a trio of concrete ceiling panels began falling in their path. Angel tried to speed up and swerve the car out of the path of the falling concrete while Milena attempted to leap into her husband’s arms. Their efforts were in vain as the trio of 3-ton concrete panels crashed down on their car, killing Milena on impact. She was 38 years old. Angel was somehow spared and crawled out the window, begging motorists to help him save his wife.

I’m angry because it’s something that just shouldn’t have happened. Since it began the Big Dig has been buried in controversy, mostly surrounding the Big Wigs stealing dough. But the bad eggs had been weeded out and things were seemingly going very smoothly. The brand new I-93 tunnel was improving traffic congestion through the city and the I-90 connector tunnel made getting to Logan a breeze.

But over the last two years, things have turned sour for Boston’s golden project. In Sept. 2004, a gusher burst inside the I-93 tunnel. In March 2005, inspectors reveal that the wall panels are defective and there are more than 2,000 leaks inside the I-93 tunnel. Later that month, a chunk of ice fell from the Zakim bridge onto at least one car. The next month, three cars and an ambulance transporting a patient were badly injured by falling debris in the I-93 tunnel, this is a day after the Federal Highway Administration deemed all tunnels structurally sound, of course. In May, the attorney general learned that Big Dig officials had been secretly patching a leak in the Fort Point Channel Tunnel that was spewing 20 gallons of water through the cracks.

Until Monday night, Big Dig mistakes had led to only minimal damage to person and property. It’s unfortunate that it took the tragic and unnecessary death of Milena for these people to really take action. In today’s Boston Herald, it was revealed that investigators have found 60-plus defects inside the I-90 connector tunnel where Milena was killed. The same tunnel my mother drove in last Friday morning to pick my sister Krissy up from Logan and the same tunnel I was in three weeks ago heading to Logan airport to visit my sister. It could have been anyone, but unfortunately, it was Milena.

God bless you and your husband Angel. I only hope your death wakes these Big Dig jerk-offs up and encourages them to do things right the first time and quit cutting corners. In death, you ensure the safety of thousands of others. At least I hope.