ELYRIA — The State Highway Patrol will conduct a drunken driving checkpoint in Elyria tonight.

The checkpoint, on state Route 57 near Bell Avenue, will be set up from 9 p.m. to 2 a.m.

Federal money pays for the effort, which is planned to intercept and deter impaired drivers.

Their will also be additional patrols in areas nearby the checkpoint, according to the Highway Patrol.

“Based on provisional data, there were 364 OVI-related fatal crashes in which 397 people were killed last year in Ohio,” Lt. Travis Hughes, Elyria post commander, said in a news release. “State troopers make an average of 25,000 OVI arrests each year in an attempt to combat these dangerous drivers. OVI checkpoints are designed not to not only deter impaired driving but to proactively remove these dangerous drivers from our roadways.”

The Highway Patrol asks that anyone who plans to drink designate a driver or make other travel arrangements before they begin to drink.