COLUMBIA, S.C. -- State Transportation Department Executive Director Elizabeth Mabry has stepped down.

The move came Tuesday following a closed-door meeting of the state Transportation Commission.

Department spokesman Pete Poore said Mabry will be on sick leave until the end of the month, at which time she will retire.

Poore said the commission agreed to pay about $40,000 to the state retirement system to give Mabry the equivalent of 28 years of state government service she needs to retire with full benefits.

The Legislative Audit Council said last month the Transportation Department has wasted millions of dollars.

Mabry previously resisted calls by commission chairman Tee Hooper that she resign.

"I was expecting her to resign, but more after the first of the year, maybe March," state Rep. Bob Leach of Greenville said. "I thought she'd stay on and fight this, so I was quite shocked when she said she resigned."

State highway engineer Tony Chapman was named acting director.

There was no word on when the commission will pick a new permanent director.