Lower Westheimer is one of Houston’s most well-known streets, but on some fronts its reputation isn’t a positive one. Narrow and bumpy, the street is both a hub of retail and recreation activity and also a harrowing bike or automobile trip from time to time.

Everyone has a story or a suggestion of how to make it better – and next week the city is going to carve out time to listen to them in hopes of improving one of Houston’s premier streets.

“That is one of the most economically vibrant, critical corridors in the city,” said Geoff Carleton, principal at Traffic Engineers Inc., a local transportation planning and consulting firm. “The priority there should be the place-making and developing walkability where it helps keep that tax base in place.”

As part of ReBuild Houston, officials are considering design changes for the street, a months-long process started by an advisory committee, moving to public comment on Monday evening. Officials guiding the process said while no final designs will be shown for what Westheimer should look like from Shepherd to Main. Westheimer turns into Elgin at Bagby.

“We will be presenting background material and existing conditions information and asking the public for their preferences and priorities,” said Matthew Seubert, a senior planner with the Houston Planning and Development Department.

The entire area includes nearby blocks within the Westheimer corridor.

Planning officials and Houston Public Works are overseeing the process, which includes two more public meetings before a finalized plan is completed in October. A 17-member advisory committee of local elected officials, city and management district staff and business owners began discussing the plan in February.

In other spots, community feedback has led to significant changes to the current streets, and some controversy. Bike lanes and wider sidewalks have featured prominently in plans along Alabama, for example.

Though there may be clamor for a similar bike lane plan along Westheimer, Carleton said cycling could play less of a role in an effective redo of the street.

“Westheimer should be walkable and transit friendly,” he said.

With plans for quality bike lanes on Alabama, Hawthorne and Fairview included in the Houston Bike Plan, city officials don’t have ambitious hopes for Westheimer cycling. It follows the priority, identified by some, of segregating cycling, high-volume vehicle streets and pedestrian amenities in a way that not every street serves every function.

Carleton said on Westheimer – which carries Houston’s most-used Metropolitan Transit Agency bus line – the focus should be improved transit with wider, better sidewalks.

Currently, with vehicle lanes on Westheimer roughly 9 feet wide in some spots, 59-passenger buses cannot be used on Metro’s Route 82. Bus operators, meanwhile, have the straddle the lanes in certain tight spots just to keep conventional 40-foot buses on their side of the street.

Widening the street, however, is not a solution many of the people in the corridor would accept.

“You’d wipe out a huge amount of tax base to move more cars,” Carleton said.

ReBuild, the controversial program funded by a fee on sewer bills, includes street-specific plans to improve local roads and water and sewer pipes. Each of the major projects includes community meetings aimed at gauging what residents would like to see included in rebuilding plans within a certain area.

Houston began tracking progress of street improvements, sidewalks and bikes lanes in 2014. Based on 2015 data released in March, however, Houston added fewer miles of sidewalks and fewer new curb ramps at intersections last year than in 2014.

In 2015, however, the city added or restriped more bike lanes and paved more miles of street.

Meeting info When: 6 p.m. Monday

Where: St. Stephen's Episcopal School

1800 Sul Ross