NORTH KINGSTOWN — Voters on Tuesday overwhelmingly approved the installation of a sewer system around a section of Post Road, but it will be at least a year until work on the large infrastructure project begins.

The town must complete engineering and design work before it can solicit bids from construction firms. It must also consult with the state Department of Transportation and see if the agency wants to make any improvements to Post Road — a state highway — at the same time as the sewer project. And the town still needs to finalize an agreement to piggyback onto the sewage treatment plant in the state-owned Quonset Business Park.

Those elements of the project could take many months to complete.

“We’re being conservative and saying it will be anywhere from 12 to 18 months before we get a shovel in the ground,” Town Manager Michael Embury said Wednesday.

His comments followed an all-day referendum Tuesday in which voters gave their approval to borrowing up to $10 million in bonds by a margin of 1,250 votes to 536.

At 70 percent, support for the project was significant, but Embury said it was tough to predict the result beforehand. With only the sewer bond on the ballot, turnout was low — only 8.3 percent of North Kingstown’s 21,534 registered voters participated — and the fate of the referendum could have been swayed by a determined bloc of residents.

The project is being conceived as the first phase of sewer improvements on a section of Post Road stretching from the Rhode Island State Police barracks to the East Greenwich town line.

The $10 million in initial funding will be used to design and install sewer infrastructure within Post Road and Camp Avenue and will also pay to upgrade the wastewater-treatment facility in the Quonset Business Park. The town is working on an agreement that would allow the facility operated by the Quonset Development Corporation to provide additional wastewater treatment for North Kingstown.

The Phase I project area will encompass about 205 commercial acres along Post Road and 30 residential properties along Camp Avenue. It will cover the part of Post Road from the Route 403 overpass to the YMCA.

The improvements, which will be implemented over several years, are aimed primarily at better serving businesses along Post Road that currently rely on septic systems. The work will also position the area as a more attractive location for new businesses and help promote future economic development, said Embury.

“We’re looking forward and trying to be proactive,” he said. “When there’s an uptick in the economy we’ll be ready to accept new development.”

akuffner@projo.com