The lawsuit accuses the lack of lights for fatal crash on the I-2110 bridge

Lake Charles, La. (KPLC) -Saturday marked for two years since Henry Leon Miller was killed in an accident on the I -210 bridge in Calcasiu Parish.

The man of the man in Southeast -Texas believes that if the bridge were properly illuminated, Miller could still be alive. Since then, you have filed a lawsuit against companies that you believe are responsible.

The lights rose on the 210 bridge in December 2019, but in less than a year they were met in August 2020 after Hurricane Laura to Südwest -Louisiana. Almost five years later, the work has just started with a project to replace it.

Henry Miller's family believes that the lack of lights was a factor for the accident that killed him in April 2023, as can be seen from a complaint submitted last year.

The following defendants are listed in the original lawsuit:

• Calcasiu community
• Amanda Phelps, the driver, the Miller struck and the scene left
• An still unknown business that Miller's family believes that he sold phelps alcohol on the night of the accident
• The Calcasiu Parish Interstate Highway Lighting District together with its members, the cities of Westlake, Lake Charles and sulfur.

The von Miller family claims that Henry Miller met and drove away from Henry Miller, whereby his car left over both alleys. The lawsuit says that it was then hit by another car and caused his fatal injuries.

Phelps owed himself guilty of reporting, reporting and reporting an accident in November 2024.

The Calcasiu Parish Interstate Highway Lighting District was created in the 1980s by Louisiana's legislature, but a local official we had spoken to said he had never heard of the district and it may have met about 40 years ago.

The lawsuit stipulates that the board does not seem to exist, but it does not matter. The legislation that has created the district remains in the books – so it is still a “political subdivision”, the lawsuit says.

Each of the units listed has been named since the original lawsuit was submitted. In a changed version of March 2025, Kiewitt Louisiana, GEC and Jack Harper Electrical also listed as accused – all worked on the 210 lighting project in 2019.

In the lawsuit, Kiewitt and GEC claims that the lighting along the Interstate would not have retained because the design of 2019 was not suitable for withstanding hurricane winds, and that they quote: “Repairs to Hurricanes Laura and Delta inappropriately delayed.”

7News turned to a comment on each of the units.

John Guidroz with Dotd said he could not comment on the ongoing legal dispute, but he answered the following questions.

Do you have an updated estimated schedule for the I-211 Bridge Lighting Project?

“To date, the project remains on schedule, and the work is expected to be completed by autumn 2025.”

What work has been done so far?

“The crews have temporarily installed striping for the shift in traffic, and the left lane was closed in a west direction. The closings towards the east are required. Six foundations were completed on the bridge. A further 14 foundations should be completed in the middle of the next week. In the next week, the completion of 84 footings will be completed.

The final date has changed several times in several years since hurricane Laura. Can you specify the argument for the several delays?

“There are several reasons why the project has been delayed since Hurricane Laura 2020.

“Dotd pursued and was approved for an improvement. This enabled an upgrade of the lighting system. The improvement was made to make a permanent lighting system. This required that the project was redesigned, which took additional time together with the start of a new bid process.

“A combination of stronger basis and poles and rising raw material prices led the offer to be more than twice as high as the estimated costs. For this reason, a new project was necessary, which in turn required a new bid procedure to be carried out.”

Court documents show that Westlake asked to remove the lawsuit in which it was found that the city of Westlake had no role in building, maintenance or design the Prien Lake Bridge. “

The city of Lake Charles made 7News a similar explanation: “We do not believe that the city was responsible for the lighting of the bridge in which the accident was outside the city limits.”

We contacted other accused in the complaint. They either refused to make a comment or did not respond to our request.

No negotiation date was determined.

7News turned to Henry Millers widow and the family lawyer. Neither reacted at the broadcast time.

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