page_title: U.S. Route 40 Alternate (Keysers Ridge–Cumberland, Maryland)
section_title: Allegany County
hierarchical_section_title: U.S. Route 40 Alternate (Keysers Ridge–Cumberland, Maryland) / Route description / Allegany County
caption_attribution_description: English: View west along Baltimore Avenue (U.S. Route 40 Alternate) in Cumberland, Allegany County, Maryland
context_page_description: U.S. Route 40 Alternate is the U.S. Highway designation for a former segment of U.S. Route 40 through Garrett and Allegany counties in Maryland. The highway begins at US 40 near exit 14 on Interstate 68 and runs 31.80 miles eastward to Cumberland, where it ends at exit 44 on I-68. Alt US 40 is maintained by the Maryland State Highway Administration.
  The highway is known as National Pike because it follows the original alignment of the historic National Road. As a result, there are many historic sites along Alt US 40, including the Casselman Bridge in Grantsville and the last remaining National Road toll gate house in Maryland, located in LaVale.
  When the National Freeway was built in western Maryland paralleling the old National Road, parts of US 40 were bypassed. The part of the bypassed road between Keyser's Ridge and Cumberland became Alt US 40, and other bypassed sections east of Cumberland became Maryland Route 144 and U.S. Route 40 Scenic. Although Alt US 40 has diminished in importance from its original status as the National Road with the construction of I-68, it remains an important route for local traffic and serves as the Main Streets of Grantsville and Frostburg.
context_section_description: After continuing into Allegany County, Alt US 40 descends Savage Mountain into Frostburg, where it passes through the town as Main Street. Main Street in Frostburg has the highest traffic density on the route, with an AADT of 15,022. For comparison, the parallel section of I-68 between exits 33 and 34 has an AADT of 20,931. In west Frostburg, the highway intersects MD 36, which then follows the same road as Alt US 40 for about a mile, separating from Alt US 40 in east Frostburg. In central Frostburg, Main Street intersects MD 936, an old alignment of MD 36. Continuing eastward from Frostburg, traffic density decreases, to an AADT of 13,585 at the MD 55 intersection, staying between 13,000 and 15,000 for the remainder of the highway. Alt US 40 passes through Eckhart Mines, where it intersects MD 638, which connects with MD 36 north of Frostburg. In the eastern part of Eckhart Mines, the highway intersects MD 743, which is an old alignment of US 40 which was bypassed by the roadway which became Alt US 40.
  East of Eckhart Mines, Alt US 40 passes through Clarysville, where it intersects MD 55. It is near Clarysville that the terrain followed by Alt US 40 changes: from Clarysville westward to the summit of Savage Mountain, the road runs uphill, while east of Clarysville, the road follows valleys, first following the valley around Braddock Run to Cumberland, and then following the valley around Wills Creek into Cumberland. Near the MD 55 intersection is a stone arch bridge which was initially built in 1812 and rebuilt in the 1830s, and carried the National Road over Braddock Run, a tributary to Wills Creek. East of Clarysville, the highway passes through a gap carved by Braddock Run between Piney Mountain and Dan's Mountain. I-68, having been built later, is located on the hillside above Alt US 40, on the Dan's Mountain side of the gap. Alt US 40 then descends Red Hill into LaVale. At the bottom of Red Hill is the La Vale toll gate house. Built in 1836, tolls were collected there until the early 1900s, and it is the last original National Road toll gate house standing in Maryland. In LaVale, the route intersects MD 53, which serves as a truck bypass for US  220 to Cresaptown. Alt US 40 interchanges with westbound I-68 at exit 39, but eastbound access is only available via MD 53 and MD 658, which intersects Alt US 40 east of the exit 39 interchange. The highway expands to a four-lane road near its intersection with MD 53, then narrows to a two-lane road near its intersection with MD 658. East of the intersection with MD 658, Alt US 40 turns northward, passing through LaVale toward the Narrows, bypassing Haystack Mountain to the north, as opposed to I-68, which passes directly over Haystack Mountain, paralleling Braddock Road (MD 49).
  Northeast of LaVale, Alt US 40 intersects MD 36 at the northern terminus of MD 36. Alt US 40 then passes through the Narrows, a gap between Haystack Mountain and Wills Mountain carved by Wills Creek, into Cumberland, where it follows Henderson Avenue and Baltimore Avenue to exit 44 on I-68, where Alt US 40 ends. The roadway continues eastward as MD 639.
caption: View west from the east end of US 40 Alt. at I-68/US 40/US 220 in Cumberland
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