One recent Saturday, I was in my study and heard snatches of a conversation between my next-door neighbor and someone I could tell she didn’t know. I didn’t think much of it.

Then my doorbell rang. Oh, I thought to myself, this must have been the person talking to my neighbor. Sure enough, it was a gentleman who said he lived on a nearby street, and he wanted me to sign a petition. Although by petition, I mean a small notebook.

He explained that he lived on Grove Avenue, which is the street my own runs into as one travels toward Route 31 in McHenry. Grove isn’t the longest street in our neighborhood, but it’s one that gets a lot of traffic because it’s one of the few streets in our neighborhood that has a traffic light, aiding in turning left onto Route 31 to head toward Prairie Grove and Crystal Lake.

As near as I could figure out, my neighbor was unhappy with how fast people were traveling on his street. He wanted the city to put up a school zone sign or something like it. He also wanted a speed limit sign because drivers weren’t adhering to the 25-mph limit that most people know is required in a residential neighborhood in McHenry.

I told him that I’d see if I could get something into the newspaper about his concern. He told me he’d need it to be before the Sept. 2 McHenry City Council meeting.

He returned a couple of minutes later to tell me that he had done a count of cars on his street one day and said the number was more than 900.

I guess I’m not surprised by that number since we live near two schools – Edgebrook and Duker – and the high school football field. Our streets also are the easiest route between the McHenry High School Lower Campus and the Upper Campus.

Still, I reached out to our McHenry reporter, Janelle, so that she could watch for the man during the public comment period at the council meeting. He showed up to the meeting but did not speak, so there wasn’t much Janelle could do.

I do know the power of reaching out to the city with concerns, because one of my own was addressed a few years back. Granted, I wasn’t the one who finally made it happen, but I’m forever grateful to the neighbors who brought it to the city.

My street is not very wide. It’s also near enough to McCracken Field that people often park along my street for football games. The problem is that when both sides of the street have vehicles parked, it becomes a one-lane street. It is impossible to navigate for an emergency vehicle.

I wrote a column about it, but because I worked on council meeting nights, I wasn’t able to show up to say something.

I love where I live, so I wasn’t about to move somewhere else, thank you very much. We deal with what we must.

However, I just about hugged the Public Works guys who, one Friday morning before a football game, started to put “no parking” signs on the opposite side of my street. I restrained myself and just shouted, “Thank you very much,” out my front door.

Ever since, they’ve dutifully come and put those signs up before games and take them down after the games are over. It’s a vast improvement, even if it’s still slightly scary for me to get in and out of my driveway on game nights.

If you have teenagers at the games, please remind them that people still live in the neighborhood and everyone should be aware that they need to be on the lookout for cars coming out of driveways. They might not be able to see you even if you see them. Let’s all be careful, so no one gets hurt.

As for my neighbor’s concern about Grove Avenue, I’m not sure exactly who he wound up speaking with. All I know is that whatever he said must have worked.

About a week later, I was coming back from the dentist and was sitting at the light at Route 31 and Lillian Street. I looked across at Grove Avenue and, lo and behold, there was a new sign I had never seen before: a 25-mph speed limit sign and one right under it with “Slow, children.”

The moral of the story is that it never hurts to take a concern to the city. You just might get what you want.

• Joan Oliver is the former Northwest Herald assistant news editor. She has been associated with the Northwest Herald since 1990. She can be reached at jolivercolumn@gmail.com.