Old Plank Road Trail
-
The Old Plank Road Trail is a 21-mile (34 km) long public rail trail in Cook County and Will County within the U.S. state of Illinois. It stretches westward from Chicago Heights to Joliet, serving fast-growing suburbs such as Frankfort and New Lenox.[1]
Its history
The Old Plank Road Trail occupies the western half of a plank road right-of-way acquired about 1850 and improved in 1855 into a railroad line, chartered as the Joliet and Northern Indiana Railroad. This nominally independent railroad line, which stretched from Joliet to Lake Station, Indiana, appears to have been affiliated with the Michigan Central Railroad from the start of its existence. Soon this section of roadbed was called the Joliet Cutoff and was operated by the Michigan Central as a spur line of its primary right-of-way from Indiana into downtown Chicago.[1]
In the early 1900s, railroad use of this roadbed began to decline. Trains were beginning to be partly replaced by rubber-tired vehicles that used new paved roads such as the Lincoln Highway (now U.S. Highway 30), which parallels the Old Plank Road Trail throughout its entire length. Service on this portion of the Joliet Cutoff ended in 1972. This abandonment opened the way for the railroad bed to be rededicated to public trail use.[1]
Starting in 1977, local residents organized to preserve the historic right-of-way for trail use. In 1982, the right-of-way was renamed the "Old Plank Road Trail." The trail was officially opened to the public in July 1997.[1]
Several strips of land along the roadbed preserve remnants of the Chicago area's original tallgrass prairie, on ground that had never been plowed since the land was originally acquired for plank road purposes about 1850. The Old Plank Road Trail is currently operated by the Forest Preserve District of Will County and by various townships and municipalities with jurisdiction over the trail. The trail is served by numerous cross-streets adjacent to U.S. Highway 30, and by the Matteson stop on the Metra Electric north-south commuter train line.[1]
References
- ^ a b c d e ""Old Plank Road Trail"". Old Plank Road Trail Association. http://oprt.org/index.html. Retrieved 2008-12-21.
Categories:- Protected areas of Cook County, Illinois
- Rail trails in Illinois
- Protected areas of Will County, Illinois
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.
Look at other dictionaries:
Ozaukee Interurban Trail — The Ozaukee portion of the Interurban Trail, as it crosses the Milwaukee River and Green Bay Road in Grafton. The Ozaukee Sheboygan Interurban Trail is a roughly 40 mile (64 km) long rail trail in Ozaukee, and Sheboygan Counties, in… … Wikipedia
Grand Illinois Trail — The Grand Illinois Trail (occasionally abbreviated GIT) is a multipurpose recreational trail in the northern part of the U.S. state of Illinois. At over convert|575|mi|km|0 in length, it is the longest trail in Illinois. ee alsoComparable trails* … Wikipedia
Mile Road System (Detroit) — The Mile Road System in southeast Michigan was established as a way to delineate east west roads through the Detroit area and the surrounding rural rim.HistoryThe Mile Road System, and its most famous road, 8 Mile Road, came about largely as a… … Wikipedia
Silk Road — The Silk Road, or Silk Routes, are an extensive interconnected network of trade routes across the Asian continent connecting East, South, and Western Asia with the Mediterranean world, including North Africa and Europe. The so called Silk Routes… … Wikipedia
History of road transport — The history of road transport started with the development of tracks by humans and their beasts of burden. Early roads The first forms of road transport were horses, oxen or even humans carrying goods over tracks that often followed game trails,… … Wikipedia
Gravel road — A gravel road, as often found in rural areas and lesser developed nations. A … Wikipedia
New Lenox, Illinois — Coordinates: 41°30′30″N 87°58′14″W / 41.508251°N 87.970597°W / 41.508251; 87.970597 … Wikipedia
List of hiking trails in Wisconsin — This is a selected list of hiking trails in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. Note that this list does not include many smaller trails that are also found places such as Wisconsin state parks.Federally administered trails*Ice Age Trail (under… … Wikipedia
John Murray Forbes — Infobox Person|name=John Murray Forbes caption= dead=dead birth date=birth date|1813|2|23|mf=y birth place=Bordeaux, France death date=death date and age|1898|10|12|1813|2|23|mf=y death place=John Murray Forbes (February 23 1813 ndash; October 12 … Wikipedia
1898 in rail transport — EventsApril events* April 20 Electrification of the South Side Elevated Railway in Chicago is completed ending all steam locomotive operations on the route. Multiple unit (M.U.) train control is also introduced by railroad engineer Frank J.… … Wikipedia
