Pastor: Kendall church to be spared in roundabout construction

Pastor Vern Yadon, inside the Kendall Chapel, Nov. 13, 2013 in Kendall. A roundabout is planned to be built at the intersection of Washington State route 542 and route 547 that will require the Kendall Chapel to be displaced. MATTMCDONALDTHEBELLINGHAMHERALD|BuyPhoto

KENDALL - A chapel nestled in the triangle formed by Mount Baker Highway and Kendall Road is no longer in the bull's-eye of a proposed roundabout.

Kendall Chapel pastor Vern Yadon said the small nondenominational church will remain standing because the state will build its roundabout away from the church and an adjoining building, on the northwest corner of the triangle near the North Fork Community Library.

The sweeping curve southeast of the chapel would be eliminated, converting the intersection into a "T" with a roundabout.

The pastor had been concerned because one of eight options for intersection improvements introduced last year by the state Department of Transportation put the roundabout directly over the chapel. Some of the other roundabout designs impinged far enough onto the church property to make it unusable.

"We're delighted," said Yadon, who talked as if the state had made a final decision on the roundabout's location.

DOT project engineer Chris Damitio said he wouldn't use the word "decision" quite yet.

"I'd hate to use that word," Damitio said. "We have shared with Vern a direction we want to go. ... There's a lot of investigation we have to do."

The state wants to make sure it can properly treat runoff from the new roundabout. The results of soil studies should be known in about a month, Damitio said.

"If everything comes back positive, then that'll lead us to finalize a footprint," he said.

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Pastor: Kendall church to be spared in roundabout construction