Traffic, traffic everywhere, but maybe solution is online

One group looking for solutions is the Waltham-based 128 Corporate Alliance, launched last year by Jack Troast, a commercial real estate executive and former Romney administration economic development specialist.

The alliance is exploring a “Web-based communications tool’’ that would give Route 128 companies and their employees up-to-the-minute traffic information and alternative routes during storms and other emergencies.

It has also held a transportation summit and posted some position papers on its website, including one on emergency preparedness. The organization has 10 corporate members, with more than 5,000 employees along Route 128 between Route 3 and the Massachusetts Turnpike.

But while its membership is broad, the 128 Corporate Alliance’s mission is highly focused: how to get employees in and out of work.

A low point for many Route 128 companies was a snowstorm in 2007 that backed up traffic on the highway for hours.

“People couldn’t even get out of the driveway of their offices,’’ Troast recalled. “There has to be a better way.’’

Another group, the business-backed 128 Business Council, is involved in more than transportation planning; it’s actually moving thousands of employees to and from work with its Alewife MBTA station-based shuttle system.

Several major companies pay dues to the council, which is on track to shuttle more than 460,000 employees this year. That makes it second only to the MBTA, notes Monica Tibbits, the council’s executive director.

But the council is also distressed by the mounting traffic on Route 128, with Tibbits noting in particular last spring’s floods, which created some nightmare backups.

Looking at long-term ways to ease gridlock, Tibbits’s group has taken a keen interest in a proposal floated by the Patrick administration.

Jeffrey Mullan, secretary of the Massachusetts Department of Transportation, is exploring the idea of converting a shoulder lane on the side of the highway and reserving it for buses and shuttles only

Tibbits says bravo to that.

“If the driver congestion continues at the rate it has been increasing over the past five or 10 years, we are going to hit critical mass,’’ she warned. “We have nowhere else to go.’’

Untapped retail potential? It is hard to think of the Route 128 corridor as lacking in anything. But maybe, just maybe, one of the most development-packed highways in the Northeast has actually been “under-retailed.’’

That’s one way to look at the quick success so far of Dedham’s new Legacy Place, despite opening up amid a recession that has put many retailers on the ropes.

The 675,000-square-foot shopping and cinema complex, developed by WS Development and National Amusements at the intersection of routes 1 and 128 in Dedham, is 99 percent leased and soon to be completely full, according to David Fleming, a spokesman for WS.

Wicked Fire Kissed Pizza just opened this month, featuring a long wine list and gourmet pizza. Three new store openings are coming up this spring, Sephora and J.Crew, with the third yet to be announced, he said.

The new additions will round out a lineup of dozens of stores and eateries anchored by Whole Foods, Showcase Cinema de Lux, L.L. Bean, and Kings.

The style, meanwhile, is anything but traditional mall, featuring an outdoor “lifestyle’’ shopping and entertainment complex.

Back when the commercial complex was still in the planning stages, WS and National Amusements argued that they would be filling a retail void between the South Shore Plaza to the south and the Burlington Mall to the north.

And while some were skeptical at the time, maybe the developers had a point. WS Development contends its research shows it is drawing from a 20-mile radius.

“To the southwest of Boston, there was a void in the market,’’ Fleming said. “We have more [leasing] demand that we can accommodate now.’’

Health care changes Here’s one health care diagnosis Route 128 business leaders won’t want to miss.

Jeanette Clough, president and chief executive of Mount Auburn Hospital in Cambridge, will offer the lowdown on the national health care overhaul and what it might mean in Massachusetts on Jan. 10 at the Westin Waltham Boston.

Clough is slated to deliver the keynote address at the annual meeting of the Waltham West Suburban Chamber of Commerce. Registration for the luncheon starts at 11:30 a.m. with the program set to kick off at 12:15 p.m.

With health costs spiraling, the topic is a timely one for businesses along Route 128 and beyond, said John Peacock, the chamber’s executive director. Local business owners and executives are trying to get a read on what impact new federal health legislation will have here in the Bay State, which passed its own health care overhaul a few years ago.

The chamber will also present Thomas Dusel, president of Hobbs Brook Management, with its annual award for community achievement.

Dusel, whose company is a major owner and operator of Route 128 office parks, has been a standout raising money for Waltham schools and supporting other community organizations, from the YMCA of Greater Boston to the Waltham Lions Club.

Scott Van Voorhis can be reached at sbvanvoorhis@hotmail.com.