The city of Montreal is demanding a contractor hurry up and finish a project that was only supposed to last 45 days, but has dragged on for a year.

Residents of Ahuntsic have become very used to a hole in the ground at the intersection of Gouin Blvd. and Lajeunesse St.

The never-ending construction project began in Sept. 2013 and people who live and work in the neighbourhood say it's been a tremendous headache.

Eric Caissy, who runs a car rental agency at the corner, has lost track of how many drivers he's seen breaking the law to get around the detour.

"They cut through my parking lot to avoid the light," said Caissy.

"There's a daycare next door and I find it quite dangerous especially for the children."

He is worried that it's only a matter of time until someone gets hurt.

The City of Montreal seems to agree, and this week demanded contractor ZS Travaux et Gerance finish the project immediately.

"The entrepreneur was served notice as of Monday that he has 15 calendar days to complete the work, so by October 8th he should have completed the work," said Jacques-Alain Lavallée.

ZS Travaux is a new company and it ran into problems with this, its first contract.

The work was supposed to begin in Sept. 2013 but the company was only able to break ground in October.

When the weather turned cold the company wasn't able to complete the work and asked for an extension.

The city agreed to bump the deadline to the spring of 2014, but now says it has has given the fledgling company more than enough time to finish the project.

"This is the first contract of this entrepreneur," said Lavallée.

"You may recall that the City of Montreal wanted to deal with new entrepreneurs that were subject to the AMF so they're not always up to speed on the specifics and the norms that the City of Montreal has."

ZS Travaux did return phone calls from CTV to discuss the matter.

If the work is not finished by October 8 the City of Montreal will find another company to complete the project.

Lavallée said the city has, for the moment, decided not to fine the company for breaking deadlines, but still reserved the right to do so.