Houston’s main drag is about to get a fresh layer of asphalt, a roughly 13-month process that transportation officials hope is not a drag on nearly 9 miles of one of the region’s busiest streets.

Workers are expected to start rebuilding and resurfacing Westheimer from Loop 610 to Dairy Ashford in March, according to Texas Department of Transportation officials. Bids on the job, expected to cost around $12 million, were opened last Wednesday in Austin.

“We are working to minimize traffic impacts as much as possible in this busy part of Houston by planning overnight work, when traffic counts are at their lowest,” said Emily Black, a spokeswoman for TxDOT in Houston.

Though it morphed into a city and suburban street years ago, Westheimer outside Loop 610 remains FM 1093, landing it in state hands. As a result of TxDOT oversight, it is part of a rotation of streets that the state plans years in advance for maintenance on a schedule of about every 12 to 15 years. In 2005, Westheimer was redesigned to add center turn medians for safety, leading to a significant resurfacing.

The road is in many respects Houston’s main street and a lengthy example of what the region is like. For more than 14 miles, Westheimer outside the Loop cuts across what used to be prairie but is now a medley of shopping centers — some such as the Galleria with a Tiffany’s and some with a neighborhood taqueria — with its surroundings dotted by both $2 million homes and hardscrabble apartments. Parking lots abound, as does fast-moving traffic, frequent buses and busy intersections.

Westheimer is not the worst street in Houston, but it is by some measures the busiest, with some spots averaging 67,000 vehicles per day. Excluding freeways, that makes Westheimer the busiest state road in the region, with stiff competition from Texas 6 on Houston’s southwest side and FM 1960 near Bush Intercontinental Airport.

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Many details of how the construction will proceed can now be worked out with the apparent low bidder, Baytown-based Angel Brothers Construction, in place. Black said officials will decide how and where to start work, something that likely will occur in small segments.

The goal is “completing each section before moving on to the next so the entire corridor is not impacted all at once,” Black said.

In most cases, crews will shave off the top layer of pavement — or what’s left of it — and lay down a fresh coat of asphalt, re-stripe and add reflective discs. Crews also will fix problems in the road’s base or curbs. If all goes well, commuters can head home one evening and travel a smooth street the next morning.

Houston commuters, however, know too well that smooth typically is not associated with area commutes.

“I feel like I’m getting hives just hearing about it,” joked Bill Watson, 55, as he left a restaurant and bakery along Westheimer on Thursday. “I sure hope it is as painless as they make it sound.”

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Work on Westheimer would join other major projects in the Uptown area, the easternmost part of where the street work is planned. Crews are finishing up the addition of a dedicated bus lane along Post Oak, while hundreds of workers are spread around the Loop 610 interchange with Interstate 69.

In addition, a separate project awarded in September will include the rebuilding of sidewalks and other pedestrian amenities for 3.5 miles along Westheimer from Kirkwood to Westerland. That project, estimated to cost $12.6 million, will add safety features and widen the space for pedestrians and bicyclists, notably around where the Sam Houston Tollway crosses Westheimer and many local bus routes intersect.

According to the terms of the job, crews can close lanes nightly from 10 p.m. to 5 a.m., but any lanes that remain closed come at a cost for the contractor. Angel Brothers, if its contract is finalized, would have 280 working days to complete the 8.8 miles of repaving.

dug.begley@chron.com