Turtle crossing signs were installed in a Lily Lake community on Monday after neighborhood families came together to fund the project to protect their neighborhood turtles from vehicle traffic.

Turtles have inhabited the retention ponds on either side of East Sunset Views Drive, between Twilight and Autumn lanes, for as long as residents can remember and often cross the road to get from one pond to the other. As the Kane County neighborhood has continued to develop, the increasing traffic on Sunset Views Drive has made crossing the street more dangerous for the reptilian residents.

Families in the Sunset Views community have a neighborhood tradition of helping the turtles cross the road. For years, residents of all ages have been on “turtle watch” to ensure turtles get from pond to pond safely.

Tired of seeing turtles get run over by cars on their street, Sunset Views residents Cindy Braden and Abby Drommerhausen took matters into their own hands and raised funds to install turtle crossing signs in the neighborhood.

The money for the signs was raised through a GoFundMe with the goal of collecting $550 to cover the cost of the signs, installation and fees to the fundraising site. The fundraiser received $831 from 27 donors. The additional $284 was donated to the Kane County Forest Preserve Foundation’s Adopt a Turtle Program.

“The signs are so cute,” Braden said. “I can’t imagine that people are not going to slow down when they see them.”