How to avoid the Arnprior junction on highway 17

The 17 at Arnprior tends to be jammed.

The alternative is to take county road 52 from Renfrew to Burnstown, straight through across the Madawaska river to White Lake, and then cut through to county road 23 to Pakenham. You can then go across the old stone bridge on the Mississippi (no, not the more famous one), onto the Kinburn Side Road to the 417.

And oh, the Blackbird Cafe in Burnstown is wonderful. Delicious blueberry flan, mmm... I almost stopped if not for the need to be back in Ottawa to meet with the rest of the group.