Interstate 210 Louisiana

Interstate 210 Louisiana
History
East End
West End

Overview

Interstate 210 in Louisiana provides a truck bypass route and an alternate to I-10 across the Lake Charles bridge west of Downtown.1 Angling southeast from I-10, the freeway spans Prien Lake along the Calcasieu River over a 8,500 foot long girder bridge. Built in 1964, the four lane span rises to a height of 125 feet.2

History

The Lake Charles Loop was part of the urban Interstate numerology submitted to the American Association of State Highway Officials (AASHO) by the Louisiana Department of Highways on March 27, 1958. The route was numbered A20 as part of a sequence with B20 for Baton Rouge and C20 for New Orleans. The numbering system changed to I-210 for Lake Charles, I-410 for Baton Rouge and I-610 for New Orleans per instructions from AASHO on July 2, 1958. All were approved by AASHO on November 10, 1958.

Spearheaded by Lake Charles city councilman Isreal LaFleur in the 1950s, Interstate 210 was completed in 1977.1

Route Information

  • East End –  Lake Charles, LA

  • West End – Sulphur, LA

  • Mileage – 12.40

  • Cities – Lake Charles, Sulphur

  • Junctions – I-10

Source: December 31, 2021 Interstate Route Log and Finders List

I-210 Annual Average Daily Traffic (AADT)

Source: 2016 – LADOTD Traffic Monitoring

Highway Guides

East End I-10 – Lake Charles, Louisiana

East at I-10

I-210 east at I-10 - Lake Charles, LA

A split diamond interchange joins Interstate 210 with U.S. 90 Business (Broad Street) and U.S. 90 (Frugue Street) to the immediate south of I-10. 05/11/22

I-210 east at I-10 - Lake Charles, LA

U.S. 90 Business runs along the west side of I-210 and concludes at U.S. 90 a half mile south of Left Exit 12 for Interstate 10 west. 05/11/22

I-210 east at I-10 - Lake Charles, LA

Left Exit 12 leads back into Lake Charles along Interstate 10 west while the I-210 mainline turns onto I-10 east. 05/11/22

I-210 east at I-10 - Lake Charles, LA

Traffic separates at Exit 12 for Interstate 10, 63 miles west of Lafayette. 05/11/22

I-10 West at

I-10 west at I-210 - Lake Charles, LA

Interstate 10 travels 1.5 miles west from a parclo interchange (Exit 36) with LA 397 to the Lake Charles Bypass. 05/19/14

I-10 west at I-210 - Lake Charles, LA

Interstate 10 narrows to four overall lanes at the directional T interchange (Exit 34) with I-210 west 05/19/14

I-10 west at I-210 - Lake Charles, LA

Exit 34 leaves I-10 west beyond the Goodman Road overpass for Interstate 210. I-210 heads south four miles to LA 14 before turning west toward Prien Lake Mall. 05/19/14

I-10 west at I-210 - Lake Charles, LA

Interstate 10 at the westbound split with I-210. 05/19/14

I-10 East at

I-10 east at US 171/I-210 - Lake Charles, LA

U.S. 171 stems north from U.S. 90 (Frugue Street) to cross paths with Interstate 10 one mile west of I-210. U.S. 171 travels north from Lake Charles to DeRidder and Leesville. 05/19/14

I-10 east at I-210 - Lake Charles, LA

No control points are posted for Interstate 210. The Lake Charles loop links I-10 with LA 14 and LA 27 south toward Cameron and the Gulf coast. 05/19/14

I-10 east at I-210 - Lake Charles, LA

I-10 crosses Kayouche Coulee leading into the directional T interchange (Exit 34) with Interstate 210 west. 05/19/14

I-10 east at I-210 - Lake Charles, LA

Exit 34 parts ways with I-10 east for I-210 west to adjacent U.S. 90 and the south side of Lake Charles. U.S. 90 parallels I-10 throughout southwestern Louisiana, overlapping with the freeway at the Texas line and again at Lake Charles. 05/19/14

I-210 East End – Throwback

Replaced sign bridges on I-210 east at I-10 along the east side of Lake Charles. Photos by Chris Patriarca (04/08/03).

Westbound Interstate 10 at I-210.

West End I-10 – Sulphur, Louisiana

West at I-10

I-210 west at I-10 - Sulphur, LA

I-210 bee lines northwest from the high level bridge over Prien Lake to Interstate 10 in east Sulphur. 05/19/14

I-210 west at I-10 - Sulphur, LA

The succeeding off-ramps at the west end of I-210 connect with Interstate 10 back into Lake Charles and Pete Manena Road (Exit 1A). 05/19/14

I-210 west at I-10 - Sulphur, LA

Exit 1A departs for Interstate 10 east to West Lake and Lake Charles. U.S. 90 combines with the freeway in 1.75 miles. 05/19/14

I-210 west at I-10 - Sulphur, LA

The mainline of I-210 defaults onto westbound Interstate 10 to Beaumont and Houston, Texas. Exit 1A connects with the south side frontage road to adjacent industrial sites. 05/19/14

I-10 East at

I-10 east at I-210 - Sulphur, LA

I-10 travels east through the city of Sulphur and splits with I-210 a mile beyond the cloverleaf interchange (Exit 23) with LA 108. 05/11/22

I-10 east at I-210 - Sulphur, LA

Construction in 2021-22 expanded I-10 with an additional auxiliary lane per direction between LA 108 and the separation with Interstate 210 at Exit 25. 05/11/22

I-10 east at I-210 - Sulphur, LA

Interstate 210 branches southeast across Prien Lake toward the unincorporated community of Prien and the south side of Lake Charles. The bypass connects with LA 385 south to Cameron Parish. 05/11/22

I-10 east at I-210 - Sulphur, LA

Entering the two-wye interchange (Exit 25) with Interstate 210 on I-10 eastbound. 05/11/22

I-10 West at

I-10 west at I-210 - Westlake, LA

I-10 trends southward from the split with U.S. 90 near Westlake one mile to Interstate 210. 05/19/14

I-10 west at I-210 - Westlake, LA

The entrance ramp from PPG Drive adds an auxiliary lane west to Exit 25. The flyover for I-210 east serves trucking interests from area industries. 05/19/14

I-10 west at I-210 - Westlake, LA

Exit 25 leaves I-10 west for Interstate 210 east back toward Lake Charles. I-10 crosses into the city of Sulphur west from this exchange. 05/19/14

West End – Throwback

Previous guide signs for Interstate 210 along I-10 referenced the freeway as the Lake Charles Loop.

Previous guide signs for the west end of I-210 at Sulphur. Photos by Chris Patriarca (04/08/03).

Sources:

  1. “Script for Half Looped: Part 1.” KPLC TV 7, Lake Charles, LA, February 25, 2004.
  2. I0210 over PRIEN LAKE, Calcasieu Parish, Louisiana. BridgeReports.com.

Page updated July 2, 2022.