CANTON — Cherokee County TSPLOST opponents and Tea Party members plan to join with others against the tax from the metro area to drive around Interstate 285 on Saturday to protest the proposed 1 percent sales tax.

Voters from 10 counties will vote on the 1 cent tax targeted for transportation in the July 31 primaries.

The Lights for Liberty Drive, organized by the Individual Liberty Coalition, will begin at 10 a.m.

Participants are asked to access I-285 from any on-ramp with their flashers on, driving the speed limit and circling the 50-plus-mile route twice counter-clockwise, which should take about two hours.

Cherokee County resident Patti Pratt, who helped organize the drive, isn’t sure how many people plan on participating but hopes that many do.

“I’ve had more interest in the last two weeks when I’ve talked to people,” she said. “I just want them to be courteous to other drivers, give them space … we’re just out there to make a statement, not to be a nuisance.”

Pratt said she opposes the 1 percent sales tax because 52 percent of the money is earmarked for a transit project she doesn’t believe can be paid for in a decade.

“My hope is that I bring awareness to TSPLOST enough that they will go to TrafficTruth.net,” she said, referencing the anti-TSPLOST website that’s advocating the drive. “It’s important that (voters) make an informed decision. I can’t tell them how to vote but that they should vote.”

Others agree that the ride around is important.

“Most people, for the most part, are tired of going somewhere and standing out in a rally,” said Marietta resident Jeff Martin, who helped organize the drive with the local coalition.

“It’s real easy to access your automobile, and it’s not a stunt. It is just to create awareness on the TSPLOST issue in opposition of it.”

Martin said he opposes the TSPLOST because there is very little information available about what the project list entails or what the costs will be.

“If you look at the (pro-TSPLOST) advertisements, they tell you to support it, but they don’t tell you what they’re going to do,” he said.

“They say, ‘It’s only 1 penny,’ but do we see anything ever go away? The costs are projected and estimated, but do things ever come under budget?”

Marietta resident Pat Negron, who plans to participate in the drive, said the TSPLOST is “self-serving.”

“The project list was made up without any input from the public,” she said. “It’s unconstitutional to put together counties to form a region … it will not relieve traffic congestion.”

For more information on the drive, contact Pratt at (678) 460-6609 or visit www.traffictruth.net.