stretch, US 167 intersects and briefly overlaps LA 29. After narrowing to two lanes again, US 167 turns due north at the western edge of Ville Platte and separates from LA 10. The highway passes to the east of Millers Lake and through an area known as Bayou Chicot, where it intersects LA 106. A few miles later, US 167 reaches a T-intersection with LA 13 in Turkey Creek. US 167 turns north to continue the path of LA 13 and travels several miles through a very sparsely populated area. Alexandria metropolitan area US 167 crosses into Rapides Parish just north of Clearwater and crosses under I-49 at exit 61. Soon afterward, it reaches a T-intersection with US 71 near Meeker and departs from the last stretch of two-lane pavement along its route. US 167 turns northwest and follows the alignment of US 71 alongside the Union Pacific Railroad (UP) line for the next through Lecompte, Lamourie, and Chambers. In Chambers, the highway passes the Louisiana State University at Alexandria, located about south of the Alexandria city limits. Upon entering Alexandria, the principal city of central Louisiana, US 71 and US 167 engage into an interchange with I-49 at exit 80. (This interchange is also exit 63 on US 71.) US 167 takes the entrance ramp to begin another concurrency with I-49, while US 71 proceeds straight ahead onto MacArthur Drive co-signed as US 167 Bus. This time, the freeway begins with four through lanes and widens to six lanes further into town. On the edge of the business district, US 167 departs from I-49 a final time via exit 84 and transitions onto the Pineville Expressway joined with LA 28. As the highway elevates to begin the approach onto the Red River bridge, ramps connect to LA 1 and LA 28 Bus. via the grade-level one-way pair of Casson and Fulton Streets. This interchange also reconnects US 167 Bus. to the parent route, though it is not signed here. US 167 proceeds over the six-lane twin-span Purple Heart Memorial Bridge and crosses from Alexandria into the smaller adjacent city of Pineville. US 167 is predominantly a grade-level four-lane freeway through the Pineville area with exits that do not utilize a numbering scheme. Tight diamond interchanges connect with LA 1250 (Shamrock Street) to Downtown Pineville and LA 107 toward Marksville. LA 28 departs to the east toward Jonesville at the