Rachel Flynn knows Richmond's draft Downtown Master Plan is ambitious. But she believes in possibilities.

Standing on the Fourth Street overpass overlooking the Downtown Expressway recently, Flynn saw potentially valuable real estate in midair and talked of building structures over the expressway to make use of the vacant space above the highway.

"It's like the Big Dig [in Boston], but we already have the dig," Flynn, the city's director of community development, said as cars whizzed along beneath.

Earlier, standing beside the James River, she spoke of the possibility of working with Dominion Virginia Power to relocate an electrical substation blocking the water view at South 10th Street and Haxall Point.

Elsewhere, she talked of putting parking garages underground, of a future of vibrant retail districts where blight now exists, and of preserving historic facades of buildings such as West Hospital of Virginia Commonwealth University's Medical College of Virginia campus.

"People have memories of buildings," she said. "We're erasing our history."

The draft master plan that could serve as a map to such a future comes up for a second public hearing at 6:30 p.m. tomorrow in City Council Chambers at City Hall.

The plan to revitalize Richmond's downtown by recalling some of the city's earlier heydays could itself be the subject of some familiar moments at the hearing -- public support seemed overwhelmingly positive during a hearing last month, though some developers expressed concern about the proposal's vision for the riverfront.

"We'll probably hear much of the same," said 4th District Councilwoman Kathy C. Graziano, who also sits on the planning commission.

The draft plan calls for preserving historic buildings; preserving and expanding parks along the James River; two-way, pedestrian-friendly streets; and the return of a trolley system. Released in late November, it was developed by the consulting firm Dover, Kohl & Partners with city planners, after work sessions that included members of the public.

The planning commission will consider changes to the draft before forwarding it to the council for consideration, probably in mid-spring.

Charles W. Finley, president of the Historic Jackson Ward Association, said he generally likes what he sees in the plan's computer-generated renderings of bustling, tree-lined streets with attractive lampposts. But he has concerns, too, such as with the recommendation to remove parking restrictions.

"We're not too high on that," he said.

Like Finley, Council President William J. Pantele said some overarching aspects of the plan -- preserving public access to the river and a return to a two-way, pedestrian-friendly streetscape -- are "dead-on right."

But "we have a long way to go on this yet," he said.

Pantele said he is sensitive to concerns that some developer-owned land was denoted in the draft as city-owned public parkland. He discounts somewhat the planning stance that the proposal is only an ideal vision of what could be.

"I think the developers are right," Pantele said. "If the master plan is approved that way, it would be an expression of the planning commission and the City Council that these parcels should not be developed."

Pantele said preserving public access to the river and capitalizing on its presence in terms of development are valuable considerations.

"Are there opportunities for us to move the pieces around so that both values are upheld?" he asked, mentioning the possibility of the city trading the Intermediate Terminal for the site of the proposed $160 million Echo Harbour high-rise condominium project.

The draft plan proposes extending the downtown area across the James River for the first time to include Manchester as one of six study areas.

The other parts of downtown examined in the draft plan are the Broad Street corridor, including the Jackson Ward and Carver neighborhoods; VCU and adjoining neighborhoods, including Oregon Hill, Gamble's Hill and Monroe Ward; City Center, which incorporates the central office district, VCU Medical Center, Virginia Biotechnology Research Park and the State Capitol; the James River, which has become a focal point of preservation and development; and Shockoe Slip and Shockoe Bottom.

For her part, Graziano said she is likely to take a cue from planning commission staff and representatives of the affected districts. She said the council's goal is then to approve a plan that is visionary and practical.

"What's doable?" she asked.

Finley, who has lived in the city since 1970 and in Jackson Ward since 1984, wonders how much of the plan can be accomplished and how soon. He has been involved in previous plans that, he said, have not produced much change.

"I'm not sure you can be overly visionary," he said. Then he added, "I hope something gets done."

Contact Kiran Krishnamurthy at (804) 649-6331 or kkrishnamurthy@timesdispatch.com.