It’s a familiar tale for many Ottawans. What should be a 25-minute drive to work in the morning soon becomes an arduous hour-long affair sitting in gridlock traffic on Highway 417 .

And, according to a local transportation expert, congestion on Ottawa highways is only expected to get worse.

Podcasts and The Chronicles of Narnia audiobooks flood through the speakers of Andrew Arcello’s car every day as he makes the drive with his two daughters between Stittsville and Elmwood School in Rockcliffe Park.

“We’re trying to come up with solutions in the car to entertain ourselves and deal with things,” he said. “We start the car ride with, ‘How was your day’ sort of thing, but that’s usually a 10-minute conversation, not an hour-and-a-half conversation.”

It takes anywhere between 45 and

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