ROCHESTER - Police will start fining people who drive the wrong way on Brock Street while it's under construction.

Brock Street is closed to any traffic south from Washington Street (Route 202) to Gonic Road (Route 125) due to the construction, which began in January and will last more than a year. The one-way travel is in effect throughout the day and week, police said.

"I'm not sure if it's confusion, as it has been well publicized and signed, as much as it is people trying to sneak through," Sgt. Patrick Emerson said in an email.

The $2 million project will widen the mile-long road, a key connector between routes 125 and 202, while updating the drainage, sidewalks and curbing. It also calls for improvements of the driveway at the McClelland School, the reconstruction of more than 800 feet of water pipes and about 5,000 feet of sewer connections and services, according to the city's website, rochesternh.net.

The sewer construction is expected to be finished in April; work at the school is scheduled to begin in mid-June and be finished by mid-August. Road work will continue into the fall, and the entire project should be finished by April 2014, according to the website.

Residents wanting to use Brock Street during the construction period must travel through the downtown or drive south along the Spaulding Turnpike (Route 16) to Exit 12, where they can follow detour signs, according to Emerson.

Emerson said police have conducted 51 directed patrols along Brock Street and stopped 53 vehicles driving the wrong way since Jan. 11.

He said that officers warned 51 drivers and issued two summonses, but now intend to start issuing summons to all, which could result in a fine of $103.33 for driving the wrong way on a one-way road under RSA 265:23.

jquinn@newstote.com