Australian Road Transport Heritage Centre committee member Erwin Richter said a location for the project, to the east of the planned 7km bypass, had been approved by the NSW Roads and Traffic Authority, pending the finalisation of the bypass design.

The RTA will hold a public consultation session on the plans at Tarcutta on Thursday.

Construction of the $225 million bypass, part of the Hume Highway duplication project, is hoped to begin by the end of the year.

Mr Richter said construction of the museum would follow soon after; the committee is in talks with a donor company to receive an 80m by 20m building to house the display of vehicles.

“We would not envisage any problems (with the freeway bypass going ahead as planned),” he said.

The heritage centre is hoped to keep visitors coming to the town after the bypass is built.

“The response has been exceptionally good,” Mr Richter said.

“We’re keen to do something for Tarcutta because once areas are bypassed, they tend to be forgotten.

“They’ve got to be doing something to retain their identity.”

Mr Richter said Wagga Council had recently been awarded a grant to establish a men’s shed at Tarcutta, to be set up near the planned heritage centre site.

The men would then be able to perform checks and maintenance works on the vehicles as a therapeutic activity.

Mr Richter said the vehicles would be loaned from their owners on a 12-month rotation system.

Funding is still being sought for a mural to commemorate Tarcutta’s trucking history — the town is also home to a truck drivers’ memorial.

“We were accused of promoting the memorial as a tourist attraction but never have we done that,” Mr Richter said.

“It’s inevitable that people are going to be calling there, the same with a war memorial, because it’s something special.”