Warning: This video contains language that may offend some people.

Work to improve the road condition on State Highway 29 is expected to get underway next week.

This follows remedial work to repair a "series of potholes" which opened up on the highway on Friday, September 30.

A video sent to SunLive shows a large number of vehicles pulled over on SH29 on Friday, repairing flat tyres in the rain.

Amongst the carnage, a toddler and mother were stranded the dark for two hours after their car tyres were damaged.

Waka Kotahi regional manager of maintenance and operations Rob Campbell says remedial work got underway on SH29 on October 4, which includes resurfacing works and subsoil drainage installation at the problem area.

'Next week we begin the programmed chip sealing work which will improve the condition of the road.”

NZTA puts the Friday event down to significant weather.

'Winter is always tough on our roads, and the damage caused by the particularly heavy rain we've seen this winter has been especially bad. The Bay of Plenty region received more than 120mm of rain across 72 hours over this weekend alone.”

Bay of Plenty system manager for Waka Kotahi Roger Brady told Stuff 'the road was inspected earlier in the day” and there were 'no issues reported”.

'Contractors were on site within the hour after being notified of road damage at about 5.30pm.”

A significant amount of rain fell in the Bay of Plenty in the weekend, causing a number of roading issues.

The MetServices says the region had more rain than the total average for the month in previous years.

"Tauranga has reported more rain so far this month than its normal October average," says John.

The average amount of rain for Tauranga in October is 80mm, and the city has already seen 83.8mm this month.

Similarly, Whakatāne has already exceeded its monthly average according to John, with 85mm of rain already hitting the town compared to the 83.9mm October average.

"Rotorua has also exceeded its normal October average too. Rotorua has seen 121.3mm in 2022 compared to the 98.6mm October average."

Road safety campaigner Geoff Upson says the series of potholes could have 'easily” been foreseen, and could have been prevented as early as 'last summer”.

Road safety campaigner Geoff Upson. Photo: Geoff Upson/Facebook.

'It really doesn't take a genius to look at a stretch of road, and decide whether or not it will be a problem the next time it rains,” says Geoff.

'The road shouldn't have even been fixed last Friday, it should have been fixed on August 18 when it was first reported as a problem.”

Geoff says he posted a video on Facebook in August, which showcases a 'similar scene” of cars pulled over with flat tyres, and the 'poor state” SH29 was in prior to the wet Friday on September 30.

'I still cannot get over the fact that police told us to avoid the area because of the potholes over the weekend. It is just hilarious.

Geoff adds he does not see weather as a 'proper excuse” for the pothole problem.

'NZTA continually blame events like these on the weather. It rains every winter. NZTA needs to be more honest about what the real problem is, which is a reduction on road maintenance overall and wasting money on things we don't want.”

Rob says potholes are an ongoing issue, which comes with the ‘flexible' pavements that are used in New Zealand.

'We acknowledge that potholes will appear across the country, especially on routes that experience high volumes of freight vehicles like SH29 Kaimai Range.

'When we become aware of potholes, contractors carry out temporary repairs as quickly as possible, however we wait to make permanent repairs until the warmer, drier months of spring and summer, to ensure our work lasts as long as possible.”

NZTA say the location of the potholes were on the same highway, but in different locations to the video published by Geoff in August.

"Potholes have appeared at times over the winter and spring period on the Lower Kaimai Range area, close to where the most recent potholes appeared, however the locations are not identical.

"As with any road, water is the main contributing factor creating potholes, especially on older road surfaces and pavements."