From the City of Chicago Heights’ web site:
The announcement of the Old Plank Road Trail extension through Chicago Heights reaching the final phase of construction was met with excitement at [an April] meeting of the Chicago Heights city council.
The Old Plank Road Trail travels over the original Michigan Central Railroad (MCRR) line, a railroad started about 1850 that ran from Lake Station in East Gary to Joliet. The rail was nicknamed the “Joliet Cut-Off” because it enabled trains to skip Chicago. Old Plank is currently a 22-mile long paved “rail-trail” beginning in Joliet and extending through New Lenox, Frankfort, Matteson, Richton Park and Park Forest. Currently, the trail ends at Western Avenue, right on the border of Chicago Heights. Read more here.